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The Helpful Birder

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  • Birding Travels

    Birding in Grand Cayman

    Post coming soon……

    April 1, 2025
  • Backyard Bird Feeding Station Ideas
    Backyard Birding

    Backyard Bird Feeding Station Ideas

    Watching birds visit your backyard can be a source of joy and wonder. If you’re a homeowner who loves the company of these feathered friends, creating a welcoming bird feeding station…

    September 28, 2023
  • green birds in Florida
    General Birding

    18 Beautiful Green Birds in Florida (With Photos!)

    Let’s delve into the enchanting world of green birds in Florida! As avid birders know, Florida is a paradise for bird enthusiasts, offering a diverse range of species. Among them, green…

    September 27, 2023
  • Bird Species

    Florida Birds of Prey

    Florida, a state renowned for its stunning landscapes and abundant biodiversity, plays host to a remarkable array of birds of prey. These majestic avian predators, often referred to as raptors, have…

    September 11, 2023
  • Florida Birding Hotspots

    Birding St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge in January

    Every year, my girlfriends and I take a trip to northwest Florida, near Tallahassee, to bird at St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge. It’s a great way to start out the new…

    November 29, 2022
  • Florida scrub-jay
    Bird Photography

    My Favorite Bird Photography Gear

    It’s funny, I got into birding AFTER I bought my first camera. I didn’t set up to be a bird photographer; I just wanted a DSLR camera to use. I bought…

    October 21, 2022
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I’ve now discovered firsthand what people mean whe I’ve now discovered firsthand what people mean when they say to use scientific names rather than common ones. In Iceland, I saw a lot of what we in North America call Common Murre, shown here in the first photo nesting on cliffs visible from the ferry as we approached Heimaey. The scientific name is Uria aalge, and elsewhere the common name is Common Guillemot.

The second photo is very distant, but this is a Black Guillemot. This common name is the same in Europe and North America. Cepphus grylle is the scientific name.

While related, these are two species who share a similar habitat but belong to in different genera. Now, try birding in Iceland where the people around you speak a different language - in the specific case I experienced it was French - and you’re trying to figure out which one you’re looking at and talking about.

Lesson learned: study ahead, bring a real guide book, or learn French. 😜

#icelandbirding #heimaey #commonmurre #guillemot #icelandphotography
Graylag Goose, scroll to the second photo for two Graylag Goose, scroll to the second photo for two goslings. The third photo is the famous Almannagjá Gorge in Þingvellir National Park in Iceland. These birds were nearby, after we walked past these rocks.

#graylaggoose #iceland #icelandbirds #thingvellir #þingvellir
I was so excited to find this mama Eared Grebe wit I was so excited to find this mama Eared Grebe with two babies tucked into her wings. And then lo and behold, the dad shows up too!

We get Eared Grebes occasionally in Florida, but in winter the plumage is much different. Still pretty but not this dramatic.

I was not prepared to shoot video, so please forgive the shakiness (it was handheld) and the need to rotate your phone.

#earedgrebe #iceland #myvatn #icelandbirding
Mr. and Mrs. Harlequin Duck 🖤🖤🖤 Mr. and Mrs. Harlequin Duck 🖤🖤🖤
Eurasian Oystercatchers are very common in Iceland Eurasian Oystercatchers are very common in Iceland. I don’t see their American cousins very often, so I delighted in these sightings.
This White Wagtail is a species I had seen in othe This White Wagtail is a species I had seen in other European countries, but they’re awfully cute and usually deserving of a snap or two. What I really liked about this sighting in Iceland is the moss it’s foraging in. Moss is prevalent in Iceland, often on top of lava rocks. It can be very delicate and slow-growing, so people are advised not to walk on the moss or otherwise disturb it. (That’s one of many reasons that stacking stones is discouraged.)

It’s ok to walk on their moss if you’re a bird, though!

#whitewagtail #icelandbirds #thingvellir #þingvellir #þingvellirnationalpark
Peek-a-boo 🫣🐧🧡 Atlantic Puffin in the rain. Heima Peek-a-boo 🫣🐧🧡

Atlantic Puffin in the rain. Heimaey, Westman Islands, Iceland.

#atlanticpuffin #iceland #puffin #westmanislands #heimaey
Basic human needs: 1. water 2. oxygen 3. more puff Basic human needs:
1. water
2. oxygen
3. more puffins than I can count, on a cliff overlooking the sea
Having a little fun with these adorable seals! I b Having a little fun with these adorable seals! I believe they are both harbour seals (aka common seals), one of two species that pups in Iceland. According to the Icelandic Seal Center, there are four other species that are frequent visitors.

The only place we saw seals on our 13 day trip was at Ytri Tunga Seal Beach on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula north of Reykjavik. It was rainy and incredibly windy, so I was really happy to get a few photos of them resting on the rocks.

#iceland #seals #sealspotting #icelandseals
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Red-cockaded woodpecker foraging for food in the woods at St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge in Wakulla, Florida (not far from Tallahassee)
Red cockaded woodpecker
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Recent Posts

  • Birding in Grand Cayman
  • Backyard Bird Feeding Station Ideas
  • 18 Beautiful Green Birds in Florida (With Photos!)
  • Florida Birds of Prey
  • Birding St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge in January

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