New Zealand

Moa for #BirdOfTheYear2018

This year, I found it difficult to choose who to vote for in the NZ Bird of the Year contest. New Zealand is home to so many wonderful birds! So how did NZ end up with so many unique birds in the first place? And why are they disappearing now, after thriving here for millions of years?

John Muir and the National Parks

Earlier this week, the US celebrated its 242nd Independence Day, and I kind of… forgot about it. I live outside of the US, and I’ve never really been a super patriotic person anyways, at least not in terms of the flags and the songs and stuff like that. But there is one thing that makes me very proud to be American, and that’s our National Park system…

What's in my camera kit?

Earlier this week, I took advantage of an unusually warm and clear autumn day to go explore the coast around Dunedin. It was also an excuse to properly try out my new telephoto lens! As many photographers will tell you, it’s really important to know your equipment well when you’re photographing wildlife, so I took most of a day to learn the ropes of the nicest, biggest lens on the best camera I’ve ever had…

James Cook: Naturalist

I was cleaning my room earlier this week when I came across a stack of paper covered in my own messy writing. Intrigued, I sat down to read. Turns out they were my notes and speculations from reading the accounts of James Cook, leader of 3 hugely influential voyages to explore the Pacific and southern oceans in the late 18th century...

Kiwi Seas

Last night I got to go to the Ocean Film Festival on its stop in Dunedin, NZ on its world tour. Nine phenomenal films, ranging from 2-32 minutes each, covering everything from freediving world records to a somewhat misguided attempt to cross the Atlantic in a two-person rowboat with zero ocean rowing experience. And lots about marine life too – fish, corals, cuttlefish, sea turtles, sharks, whales, manta rays, and more...

The Fast, the Furious, and the Feathered

We’re back from hiatus! I took a few weeks off to focus on moving house, and to travel around NZ’s South Island for a couple weeks. We made a big loop around the South Island – from Kaikoura to Kahurangi National Park to Milford Sound – but the highlight was 4 days of tramping. And while we were out in the backcountry, we got to see New Zealand falcons! NZ falcons are rare and endemic, so getting to see one is pretty special...

An Afternoon at Orokonui

On a bright summer day at Orokonui,

I saw bellbirds and robins and kaka and tui.

Tuatara and takahe step to and fro,

Like small dinosaurs from eons ago.

If you come here at night, you can hear ruru hoot,

And you may see a kiwi (the bird, not the fruit).

These creatures and more deserve your attention,

Since they could vanish without good protection...

An Introduction

Hello! I’m Emma. That's me on the left, on a little weekend excursion to Arthur's Pass National Park in New Zealand a few months ago. I love wildlife, I love photography, and I run this website. It’s officially for my master’s thesis, but this is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now...