• Home
  • Florida Hotspots
  • My Backyard Birding List
  • General Birding
  • Bird Species
  • Backyard Birding

The Helpful Birder

Featured Posts General Birding

Where to Find Birds

Read More
Featured Posts General Birding

Not All Blue Birds are Bluebirds

Read More
Featured Posts General Birding

How Nature Reuses Its Resources

Read More
Bird Species Featured Posts

Species Spotlight: Swallow-tailed Kites

Read More
  • 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
Older Posts

Categories

  • Backyard Birding
  • Bird Photography
  • Bird Species
  • Birding Travels
  • Featured Posts
  • Florida Birding Hotspots
  • General Birding

Find Me on Instagram

thehelpfulbirder

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
I’m really excited to finally get to see a Great B I’m really excited to finally get to see a Great Blue Heron (white morph) yesterday! And a bonus for getting to see it in action when it caught this fish. 

I drove two hours to find it, but once there it was an easy spot. Thank you to the friend who told me its whereabouts. (I don’t want to share their name or the location publicly so that I protect it.)

This subspecies is normally found in the Florida Keys and sometimes in southern mainland Florida. It’s sometimes called a Great White Heron, and is easily mistaken as a Great Egret. However, the egret would be smaller and have a completely yellow bill.

Hope you enjoy! 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

#greatwhiteheron #greatblueheron #floridabirds
These two Atlantic Puffins are exhibiting a behavi These two Atlantic Puffins are exhibiting a behavior called “billing”. It’s thought to strengthen a pair bond throughout the breeding season, particularly when they return from sea and it’s time to get reacquainted.

If you turn up your volume you’ll hear the clacks made by their beaks making contact.

Bonus: the buzzing sound near the end of the video is the winnowing sound of a Common Snipe, a prominent species throughout Iceland. 

#puffinsofinstagram #atlanticpuffins #icelandbirds #seabirds #puffins
A series of Black-tailed Godwits in the rain. We s A series of Black-tailed Godwits in the rain. We saw this species in a couple of places so I do have some photos of individuals that look less bedraggled. In addition to the rain this particular afternoon, the wind was gusting about 35mph, so I didn’t stay out very long!

When I birded extensively in England I learned that these are nicknamed “blackwits”, and the Bar-tailed Godwits are called “barwits”. There are no barwits in Iceland, though, so they likely just call them either godwits or something entirely unpronounceable!

#icelandbirds #birdingiceland #vik #blacktailedgodwit #godwit
It’s been months since I posted a mammal, but this It’s been months since I posted a mammal, but this one is worth the change-up! It’s a reindeer we saw near Hoffell, Iceland. I love that the antlers are still covered in velvet this time of year.
Snuggle bugs! Atlantic Puffins in Iceland. #hafna Snuggle bugs! Atlantic Puffins in Iceland.

#hafnarhólmi #icelandpuffins #puffinsofinstagram #icelandbirds #atlanticpuffin
Iceland is full of beautiful places, but one of th Iceland is full of beautiful places, but one of the most unique is Jökulsárlón, a glacial lagoon where icebergs float through unbelievably blue water. The icebergs come from Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier, and then make their way into the sea. The lagoon is right by the famous “Diamond Beach”. The area is chock full of Arctic Terns, Common Eiders, and Black-legged Kittiwakes.

This individual is a young kittiwake, also called a “tarrock”. According to Cornell, tarrock is one of the few English words derived from the Greenlandic language. I didn’t even know there WAS a language called Greenlandic!

In the first two photos you can see some of the icebergs and the cool blue water they’re floating in. For fun, I also included three more iPhone photos, one of the lagoon, one of Diamond Beach, and one of me holding an iceberg 🧊
Common Ringed Plover We recently returned from Ic Common Ringed Plover

We recently returned from Iceland, and I’m so excited to post some of my birds from there! I got 14 new lifers and saw a number of species I’d only seen once or twice previously in Maine or England.

I found this Common Ringed Plover at Vestmannsvatn while unsuccessfully chasing the Arctic Loon there. It’s a pretty good consolation prize for someone who lives in the US.
Happy Monday! #puffin #atlanticpuffin #puffinsofin Happy Monday! #puffin #atlanticpuffin #puffinsofinstagram
Follow on Instagram

See My YouTube Channel

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
Subscribe

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

Copyright Susan Petracco, All Rights Reserved