Author | Lightnews

Pearl

@pearlbarry.bsky.social

110 followers 250 following 38 posts

Freelance Natural Science Illustrator, ecologist, lover of of all things nature MSc in Ecology from the Uni of Otago 🦎 BS in Enviro Science from Western Washington Uni Commissions open Website: https://pearlmomilanibarry.wixsite.com/studiopearlbarry

pearlmomilanibarry.wixsite.com

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · 5h

Otago green skinks in #Aotearoa #NZ appear to have close family ties for the first 3-4 years of life! Here are two baby #skinks with their older sibling who's probably 2.5-3 years old.

#lizard #reptiles #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #Orokonui #conservation #wildlife #animals #NewZealand

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · 1d

#PNW #wasps
#naturephotography #insects #flowers #nature #wildlifephotography #bugs

Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks Cory. Here's the same bird on one of the bird-water dispensers at Orokonui!

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · 1d

Korimako are a type of honeyeater endemic to #Aotearoa #NewZealand.

Every spring when the kotukutuku (Fuchsia excorticata) blooms I see korimako with faces covered in the worlds only plant-kingdom's only bright blue pollen!

#nature #birding #birds #nzbirds
#birdsofbluesky #conservation #flowers

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · 2d

Yes she is! She's a great mom to many takahe chicks every year. This year she has had 2 new chicks with her mate Bennet, and her two adult chicks from last year are helping to raise them. Its a privilege to watch.

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · 2d

Waimarie is one of 8 takahē living at #Orokonui Ecosanctuary, an one of only ~600 of her species! Takahē numbers plummeted to near-extinction in the South Island of #NZ in the 1940s. Large-scale invasive mammal trapping and predator-resistant fences are helping to bring them back!
#birding #wildlife

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · 5d

Snack time
#Orokonui #habitatrestoration #conservation
#Aotearoa #NewZealand
#photography‪ #birding
#nzbirds #nature #kaka

Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · 6d

Birds are pretty cool too
#Orokonui
#Aotearoa #NewZealand
#photography‪ #birding
#nzbirds #nature #tui

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · 6d

I just these these little guys are so neat. Check out how their eyes look open, even when they are closed due to some special eyelid scale trickery! #photography #herpetology #Orokonui #Nature #Aotearoa #NewZealand #lizard #ecology

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · 6d

A sort video of those two in action. Your can see the male flicking his tongue - this can be a way to cool down in the heat, but is also a way to smell his mate's pheromones *mlem*. I have been watching these two for 3 summers and they have been amazing parents together. #Orokonui #herpetology #cute

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · 6d

It's spring time in #Orokonui Ecosanctuary, and that means my favorite bonded pair of Otago green skinks are active again! Going on 9 years old, the female (green nose) has had a litter of two skinklets (not the technical term) with her long-term mate. #photography #herpetology #NewZealand #Science

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · Jul 18

#art #digitalart #waterfall #landscapepainting

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · Jul 18

Painting and inspiration

#art #landscapepainting #forest #natureart

Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · Jul 9

I've been super inspired by the glowy and colorful forest paintings by @mk-howling.bsky.social. I have a lot to practice and learn!

#art #landscapeart #painting #digitalart #krita

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · Jun 22

I'm trying out a digital stippling technique for botanical illustrations using one of my favorite PNW wildflowers, the understated and charming Pacific starflower (Lysimachia latifolia).

#botanicalillustration #SciArt #scienceillustration #natureart #flower #PNW #wildflowers #botanicalart

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · Jun 18

While looking for #tīeke at #OrokonuiEcosanctuary, I saw many other inhabitants lucky to reside inside the protection of the mammal-resistant fence🪶. Here, a tauhou or silvereye was prying away the strippy bark of a kanuka, plucking insects hiding underneath.
#Aotearoa #NewZealand #SciArt #birding

A tauhou rests on the trunk of a kanuka tree in-between stints of pulling bark away to eat insects underneath.

Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · Jun 18

Yesterday I participated in a sanctuary-side survey for the recently released #tīeke at #OrokonuiEcosanctuary. We use a playback technique to draw in #birds to take note of their colored leg-bands. A curious miromiro also came by, wondering what the ruckus was about.
#Aotearoa #NewZealand #SciArt

A tīeke, a black bird with a sharp beak and a brown back, faces left with its bright red mouth open as it calls "tīeke tīeke tīeke". Its colorful, identifying leg bands are clearly visible, making the photo useful for our survey records.

A tīeke, a black bird with a sharp beak and a brown back, faces right with its bright red mouth open as it calls "tīeke tīeke tīeke". the grey eye is alert and shining in the low winter light.

A miromiro, a small bird with a large black head, small pointed beak, and bright yellow belly perches on a dead, thorn-armoured gorse branch.

A miromiro, a small bird with a large black head, small pointed beak, and bright yellow belly perches lightly on a pale tree stump, with the blue sky in the background.

Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · May 25

Thank you 💛

Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · May 24

More pieces from my workshops on botanical and natural science illustration techniques. All drawn from life and accurate to scale 1:1. A Fuchsia flower in colored pencil, a river stone in watercolor, and a feather🪶 in watercolor.
#botanicalart #SciArt #scientificillustration #art #coloredpencil

Colored Pencil illustration of a pink fuchsia flower on white background

Watercolor painting of a disc-shaped river stone on white background.

Watercolor illustration of an orange and grey feather on a white background.

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · May 22

Wow thank you! I really admire your work so it's nice to hear your thoughts on mine.

Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · May 22

Close up of the kahu

Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · May 22

Close-up

Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · May 22

When takahē were discovered not to be extinct, conservationists had to learn to save them without much available information about their ecology. This illustration represents when alpine tussock grasslands were thought to be their preferred habitat.

#Aotearoa #NewZealand #SciArt #Birds #digitalart

Takahe tussock grasslands where we thought was there preferred habitat before more data showed they prefer swamp and forest edge habitat. Two takahe tussle in the foreground while another watches them closeby and a fourth seems ambivalent in the background. An Australasian harrier hawk, or kahu, soars around looking for the now extinct flightless wrens. A New Zealand Pipit watches the tussle from the branches of a dead hebe.

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Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · May 21

Thanks! I love the weird and wonderful :)

Pearl @pearlbarry.bsky.social · May 21

Maybe I'll design a creature inspired by parrot tongues haha!