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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Getting into the badly-edited photo game for #BirdoftheYear2026. Vote #seabirds These petrelheads have emissions which are good for the environment (in Aotearoa, seabirds like petrels fertilise our forests, by carrying nitrogen and phosphorus from the ocean and depositing it on land).

3 formula 1 racing cars with the heads of 3 different petrels clumsily edited onto the drivers. Text: vote for the petrelheads with emissions which are *good* for the environment. Vote tāiko, tākoketai and tītī for Bird of the Year 2026

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Voting is open in the year's most exciting election #BirdoftheYear. Here's how I'm celebrating: by attempting to recreate the looks of the seabird candidates in makeup. Get out there and vote now! You don't have to be in New Zealand, we love foreign interference in this election!

A petrel flying over the sea and me with silly grey and white eye makeup and black lips.
Text | The challenge: makeup based on as many seabirds in #BirdoftheYear 2020 as possible. Tītī smokey eye: white eyeliner, grey and white alternate, black beak with highlights. Vote now at https://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

It's nearly time for #BirdoftheYear2026. This year, I'm campaign manager for tītī | Cook's petrel. It's a trans-Pacific jet-setter with an underground bunker in Aotearoa, but this bird's emissions are actually GOOD for the environment!

Image: faceless grey man and tītī | Cook’s petrel. Text: Silicon Valley tech billionaire? Luxury underground bunker in remote location, Migrates between NZ and California on private jet, Massive carbon emitter and polluter. 2026 Bird of the Year? Eco-friendly burrow in remote location, Low-emission migration between NZ and California, Emissions help mitigate climate change**Poo from seabirds like tītī fertilises the forest with nutrients from the ocean, making our forests grow better Vote tītī | Cook’s petrel for Bird of the Year. Better than a tech billionaire

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

It’s a while since I’ve shared any #Sciart. I only began a regular drawing practice at the start of last May. I draw nearly every day now and it’s made a huge difference. Here’s a recent orchid drawing.

A line drawing of two weird orchid flowers up close, a longer piece of stem with multiple small flowers and a flower cross section. Gastrodia coopereae

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Another important election coming up! New Zealand's #BugoftheYear So many great candidates it's hard to choose. The forest restorer's faithful friend? Tough as a tardigrade tadpole shrimp? Saved by an invasive species giant wētā? Punk mite? #sciart

A felt pen drawing of a round mite covered with huge spines, text: Neotrichozetes spinulosa | Hellraiser mite | punk mite

A felt pen drawing of a spiny brown insect and a small sprig of gorse with yellow flowers and spines. Text: Deinacrida mahoenui | Mahoenui giant wētā | wētāpunga | saved by an invasive species

A felt pen drawing of a spider with large body, thick legs and large jaws, text: Porrhothele antipodiana | kahuwai | tunnelweb | faithful friend of forest restorers

A felt pen drawing of a tadpole shrimp with an oval body and segmented tail. Text: kouraura wai | tadpole shrimp | Lepidurus apus viridis | tough as a tardigrade

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. And a virtual hug for those who find the day difficult.

A felt pen drawing of pōhutukawa, a sprig of grey-green leaves with flowers a bunch of red stamens. Metrosideros excelsa.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Another candidate for New Zealand’s #favouriteplant. A button daisy unique to the wild and windswept Kaitorete Spit. So cute and fuzzy #sciart

Felt pen drawing of Craspedia thinicola, Kaitorete Spit button daisy. A rosette of grey hairy leaves with creamy dense flower clusters with maroon anthers. Plus closeup of flower head

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Here's another candidate for favourite New Zealand plant, the beautiful pīngao. It's great at stabilising sand and is used for traditional Māori weaving, but is threatened by coastal development, sea level rise and the invasive marram grass.

A felt pen drawing of Ficinia spiralis | golden sand sedge | pīngao, a sedge with creeping stems and orangey leaves, plus a close up of the seed head

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

It's time to vote again! This time, there's a shortlist of 40 amazing native plants which are contenders for NZ's favourite native plant. OK, some of the contenders are a little obscure, but who couldn't love a rebel forget-me-not! Voting links here. You don't need to be in New Zealand.

Felt pen drawings of riverbed forget-me-not Myosotis uniflora. Top drawing shows lots of yellow flowers among tiny greyish green leaves while the bottom shows a single yellow flower.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

I did an art class this weekend and had a go using a dip pen and plant inks. Drawing was fun and I loved the look the pen and inks made, apart from the nibs being almost impossible for a left hander to write with (although drawing was fine). Here's my drawing of prairie grass. #sciart

Seed head of Bromus catharticus, prairie grass drawn in black ink made from black walnut hust, with a purplish grey mottled background made from red cabbage ink and scattered salt.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

So it turns out that the story of austral snipe is an emotional rollercoaster. The story of tutukiwi is one of the saddest in #conservation, but the story of the Campbell Island snipe is one of the happiest. So here it is... #Sciart

A felt pen drawing of a mottled pale brown bird with a round body, with feathers slightly puffed out and a very long beak. Text: Campbell Island snipe, Coenocorypha aucklandica perseverance, nationally vulnerable

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Feeling sad today, so thought I'd share something from one of my art projects, which is to bring life to Aotearoa's #extinct species. Here's a little treasure called tutukiwi, a shorebird which lived in the forest, extinct in 1964.

A felt pen drawing of a mottled brown bird with a long beak tutukiwi | South Island snipe, Coenocorypha iredalei

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

There's so much wrong in the world that it's overwhelming. But, if you can, spare a thought for the thousands of species which are silently slipping into extinction. This adorable weevil's just hanging in there, but how many more of our smaller creatures have we lost without noticing?

A felt pen drawing of a mottled brown, knobbly beetle with a long snout. Canterbury knobbled weevil, Hadramphus tuberculatus

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

It’s a while since I’ve shared any #sciart, so here’s a recent piece to accompany my article on the North Island kōkako. I’ve also included a piece from a year ago when I first started drawing to illustrate my articles.

A head portrait of a grey bird with a curved beak, black mask and blue wattles, with four sketches surrounding the portrait showing the bird in different poses.

A diagram showing the host range of influenza A with very basic drawings of a duck, horse, human, pig and chicken. Plus influenza B with just a human coughing.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

If you're into science communication #Scicomm and are in Auckland, Hamilton, Napier-Hastings, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch or Dunedin, check out the networking night for the Science Communicators Association of NZ. I'm co-hosting in Wellington.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Most accurate journalism I've seen on Aotearoa/ New Zealand in a long time.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

On my recent visit to #TiritiriMatangi island I took this video in the forest. The birdsong here is extraordinary. I’ve never heard anything like it.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

If you need something uplifting, it’s hard to go past the story of the hihi, and how a group of high school students and their inspirational teacher helped bring it back from the brink of extinction. open.substack.com/pub/theturns...

open.substack.com

A new sunrise

Tiritiri Matangi has given us hope for the survival of the hihi, but these birds are still in serious trouble (11 minute read)

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Such a frustrating and misleading headline. Do better @theguardian.com

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

Just a quick reminder that polls close tomorrow in the year's most anticipated election: #Birdoftheyear2025 #BOTY2025 Make sure you get your votes in, and if you aren't sure who to vote for, here are nine worthy but sometimes overlooked candidates. theturnstone.substack.com/p/time-to-vote

theturnstone.substack.com

Time to vote!

The year's most contentious election - that's right, it's Bird of the Year 2025 (5 minute read)

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Another under appreciated candidate for #birdoftheyear2025, the teeny-tiniest tītīpounamu. #sciart Weighs less than a large garden snail.

A felt pen drawing of a bird with green and black wings with flashes of yellow and a white chest. Wings extend longer than the tail

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Here it is, my guide to why you should vote for some of Aotearoa’s under-appreciated birds. open.substack.com/pub/theturns...

open.substack.com

Time to vote!

The year's most contentious election - that's right, it's Bird of the Year 2025 (5 minute read)

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

I decided to get behind #Birdoftheyear2025 so I've written a guide and done some drawings for 9 underappreciated birds. Here's one for hākoakoa #skua since I was inspired by @hakoakoa-boty.bsky.social The guide comes out tomorrow. Can you guess which other birds are on my list?

A felt pen drawing of hākoakoa, a large brown seabird flapping its wings and with its beak open, caption "be loud and proud".

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

Hihi putting in a strong showing a day before voting opens in #BirdoftheYear2025

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

Something to help you through one of the most momentous decisions you'll make all year - which bird to vote for in #BirdoftheYear2025

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

I'm still finishing my work after 9pm because I decided to take a 3 hour walk this afternoon in the most perfect Wellington weather. Totally worth it. I made someone very happy.

A happy black and white heading dog looking at me, grass in background

A happy black and white dog on close-cropped grass with Wellington Harbour in the background and a blue sky with a few fluffy clouds.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

I've written more about #vaccines - here's an article which looks at the traditional approaches to making live and inactivate vaccines, then protein subunit vaccines, then what makes #mRNA such an important development. #sciart, although my rabbits need practice...

Title: vaccines late 1800s. Diagrame showing a sad rabbit about to be used to make Pasteur's rabies vaccine and explanation of how this was done by injecting rabbits with rabies, then removing their spinal cords (from dead rabbits) and drying the spinal cords to weaken the rabies virus present.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

I just checked back, and it appears I never shared my praying mantis drawings here. I'm still mostly drawing moths after #mothmay, but wrote an article on one of New Zealand's more surprising invasive species, which led to me drawing praying mantises. #sciart

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Drawing moths has given me a new appreciation of a group which I previously studied as pests. Here are a couple whose arrival in New Zealand led to major eradication programmes. #sciart

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

#MothMay got extended - I'm still drawing moths! Here's a couple of highlights from my article about the latest in lepidopteran fashion, as some of nature's most striking moths strut down the runway with flying colours. @loadofolbobbins.bsky.social #SciArt

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

I've continued drawing since I took part in #MothMay, and while I can't say practice makes perfect, it has certainly helped. Here's my latest moth! #Sciart

A felt pen drawing of a small bird dropping moth (Ponometia erastrioides, Noctuidae). The moth is coloured whitish, brownish green and greyish and sort of resembles a bird dropping if you use your imagination.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

I've been doing a lot more drawing since I took part in #MothMay. Lots of moths, but I'm getting better at drawing other things too. Practice won't get me close to perfect, but it does help! Here's my latest moth.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

This thread is the best laugh I've had all day. PR firm for the University of Warwick delivers comedy gold.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

If you haven't already bought a copy, the first chapter of Shaun Hendy's book on #TheCovidResponse is now available for free. I highly recommend it!

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

For a change from my usual, more serious science writing, I wrote something for my 7 year old nephew. It’s science and about the importance of biodiversity, but only for those with a strobg stomach. open.substack.com/pub/theturns...

open.substack.com

Sickening science

A school holiday special: science for the strong-stomached (6 minute read)

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

If you are in #Aotearoa, you can participate in the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey, our longest-running #citizenscience project. I wrote an article about some of what we've learned so far and even drew a couple of our lovely manu. theturnstone.substack.com/p/the-compan...

theturnstone.substack.com

Bird's-eye view

It's time to count the birds, because birds count! (11 minute read)

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

A (mostly*) happy antidote to the dire news. Echidnas! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... Reference to Indonesian occupation of West Papua. Please don't forget about it.

theguardian.com

Long-beaked echidnas? Yes please! A cartoon for people who cannot bear any more news about anything dreadful | First Dog on the Moon

Let the echidna discourse begin!

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

If you thought Philomena Cunk was funny, try reading a comments section full of people who haven't heard of Philomena Cunk. It's even better than people being outraged over stories in The Onion (sorry @bencollins.bsky.social, but you are still America's Finest News Source)

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

I wish I'd seen this post last month, when I was participating in #MothMay. @loadofolbobbins.bsky.social Jess, check out this genus on iNaturalist. Some great candidates for next year!

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

The world is burning and it seems as if everything is being run by the worst possible people. Apropos of nothing, here's a statue from the garden of Cardinal Ippolito D'Este, grandson of Pope Alexander VI.

A statue of the goddess Diana, with at least 14 breasts, each spurting a jet of water. No, I'm not kidding, that's what the photo shows. If this doesn't seem like the kind of statue you'd expect to see in the garden of a cardinal in the Catholic Church, I assure you, 14-breasted statues is the least of it when it comes to the Borgia family.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Couldn't resist adding one more for #MothMay, as I didn't want to finish on one I was unhappy with. Here's a tiny spangle-wing, which bores into the bark of the linden tree. Lindens are cultivated in New Zealand, but I'm sad to say these moths haven't come with them.

Felt pen drawing of Linneaus's spangle wing or the linden bark borer, Chrystoclista linneella, Elachistidae. An orange and black moth with silver patches on the wings

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Still behind on #MothMay, especially as it's technically June here. But I did want to draw this lovely moth. The shape went all wonky and I really struggled to get the gloss on its wings. I keep reminding myself that drawing is a skill and I will improve with practice.

A felt pen drawing of the yellow and pinkish-red Hypercallia citrinalis (Depressariidae)

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

I needed a smile today. This guy was it.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Another weirdo for #MothMay. This is the currant clearwing, and as the name says, those wings aren't white, they're transparent. Native to Europe and Asia, introduced to NZ. I have currants in my garden and even though these are a pest, I'd be delighted if they turned up.

Felt pen drawing of Synanthedon tipuliformis, Sesiidae, the currant clearwing. It's a moth with transparent wings, and it has yellow and black stripes like it's pretending to be a wasp.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Still drawing New Zealand weirdos for #MothMay. This one's the common hebe plume moth. Not a mosquito, despite appearances. It feeds on our shrubby, native Veronica species, which are known as hebes.

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Melanie Newfield @melanienewfield.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Still drawing New Zealand weirdos for #MothMay. Here's Gymnobathra flavidella, which seems like it should be conspicuous with its butter-yellow colour, but it's less than a centimetre long.

Felt pen drawing of yellow and brown moth Gymnobathra flavidella, either in the Xylorictidae or Oecophoridae depending on which source you check.

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