Christmas in New Zealand

No snow, but New Zealand sure is festive right now

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 20, 2017 at 1:24pm PST

Christmas morning at Danseys Pass, New Zealand (just me, the birds, and the sheep)

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 24, 2017 at 6:14pm PST

Kayaking 'round NZ

Merry Christmas from Moana Rua

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 23, 2017 at 4:03pm PST

A pre-Christmas alpine kayak (above) and two kayaks around two Goat Islands, 1500km apart (below).

Knew I lugged this little yellow boat all the way from Maine for a reason... (photos: @edinzphoto)

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Oct 25, 2017 at 12:49pm PDT

It seems I can't go kayaking in New Zealand without kayaking around Goat Island. This particular Goat Island is in Port Chalmers, and like the last Goat Island I kayaked around, it has no goats. It does have black-backed gulls and white-fronted terns nesting on it.

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 13, 2017 at 12:44am PST

Thrills, spills, and seabirds in the subantarctic

Ever wondered what it's like to be jumped by a 700-pound endangered marine mammal? Find out in the latest installment of Voyage of the Yellow-eyed Penguin. Also featured: shipwrecks, near-shipwrecks, and albatrosses in peril.

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 11, 2017 at 12:45pm PST

Sketches of New Zealand white-capped mollymawks, nesting on Auckland Island in the subantarctic

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 8, 2017 at 3:43am PST

Scenes from penguinland

The second chapter of my National Geographic series Voyage of the Yellow-eyed Penguin: Penguins Wanted, actually involves penguins. Additional visual below.

My first penguin-monitoring station on a subantarctic island (I was pretty stoked to see four yellow-eyed penguins in four hours). Certainly can’t post this without acknowledging @edinzphoto’s amazing camo/neon combo gear loan (thanks, E!)

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Dec 4, 2017 at 12:32am PST

Voyage of the Yellow-eyed Penguin

My first of four stories about a voyage to the subantarctic!