Old albatross

Today I start my desultory multiday trip from Maine to New Zealand, where I intend to sketch a lot of seabirds. My overseas flight isn't until this weekend, so in the meantime here's an albatross sketch from the archives!

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Sep 5, 2017 at 5:03am PDT

Actually this was a drawing (based on photographic references) of THE oldest known living bird, Wisdom the Laysan Albatross, who continues to lay eggs and raise chicks at age 66-plus.

City gull

One more week until I head to NZ to sketch seabirds for @natgeo and @the_fulbright_program. Meanwhile, here's a Great Black-backed Gull (originally drawn for @nycaudubon)!

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Sep 1, 2017 at 7:03am PDT

Beach walker

Ring-billed Gull stalking the beach

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Aug 21, 2017 at 6:24am PDT

Definitely still in Maine

Lobster boat seen from Jonesport

A post shared by Abby McBride (@sketchbiologist) on Aug 16, 2017 at 4:39am PDT

Zee and the Storm-Petrel

Zee will be lying low in the coming months, while I head to New Zealand to sketch seabirds for a Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellowship. (See more Adventures of Zee.)

Here's one last sighting of Zee with the long-lost New Zealand Storm-Petrel. This little seabird, thought to be extinct for the entire 20th century, was recently found nesting on an island just 50 miles from New Zealand's biggest city.

The storm-petrel's tenuous recovery depends on ongoing conservation efforts, including constant vigilance to keep invasive cats and rats away from its breeding grounds.

Stay tuned to learn more about this storm-petrel and other seabirds of New Zealand, appropriately known as the "seabird capital of the world" (and as a global leader in saving these very important, very endangered animals!).