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The Helpful Birder

Featured Posts General Birding

Where to Find Birds

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Featured Posts General Birding

Not All Blue Birds are Bluebirds

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How Nature Reuses Its Resources

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Bird Species Featured Posts

Species Spotlight: Swallow-tailed Kites

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  • Swallow-tailed kite in flight over Wildwood, Florida
    Bird Species Featured Posts

    Species Spotlight: Swallow-tailed Kites

    Every spring around March/April, Florida birders get really excited to see the first swallow-tail kites come through. Because they migrate to South America, they aren’t here year-round. But when they are,…

    March 19, 2020
  • Northern Gannets at Bempton Cliffs, England
    Birding Travels

    My Whirlwind Tour of London, Birdfair, Norwich, and More

    My first trip to Europe last August was an absolute dream. My friend Rochelle asked if I would like to accompany her to Birdfair, the largest birding festival in the UK.…

    March 19, 2020
  • General Birding

    Why are Juvenile Birds So Difficult to ID?!?!

    Many species of birds have babies that look an awful lot like their parents. A young male cardinal is less red than an adult, but clearly a cardinal. Baby egrets are…

    March 19, 2020
  • facebook
    General Birding

    My Favorite Facebook Birding Resources

    I have found Facebook to be an invaluable resource for increasing my birding skills. I wanted to share with you some of my favorite resources on Facebook in the hopes that…

    March 19, 2020
  • My Bird Species Bucket List
    General Birding

    My Bird Species Bucket List

    When I went to Bird Fair in England in August of 2019, one of the speakers I heard was Dominic Couzens, a British birder and author. He gave a presentation about…

    March 19, 2020
  • Backyard Birding General Birding

    How to Attract Painted Buntings to Your Yard

    Painted buntings are one of my favorite birds. They’re so colorful and active. Because here in Florida they only show up for a few months during winter, they’re also sometime I…

    March 19, 2020
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susanpetracco

Susan Petracco
Texas's golden-fronted woodpecker looks a lot like Texas's golden-fronted woodpecker looks a lot like Florida's red-bellied woodpecker, except part of what would be red is yellow. Two different species but very closely related. I was ecstatic when this one flew into the watering hole and gave us some clear shots!
Crested caracara among a field of yellow wildflowe Crested caracara among a field of yellow wildflowers - I think they were called false dandelion but I'm not certain now. This was a very foggy morning, which presented a photographic challenge due to low light (noise) and haze from the fog. Fortunately I think I was able to clean it up well in Lightroom and Topaz's Denoise AI and Sharpen AI tools. Thank goodness for technology!
Gainesville, Florida has a special celebrity, this Gainesville, Florida has a special celebrity, this amazing yellow Northern cardinal. Scientists estimate there are only 10-15 such individuals throughout the United States. I convinced my husband and one of the kids to road trip there yesterday and we were lucky enough to spot him almost immediately. (It helped that there were tons of other birders standing around staring into the trees!) He's really gorgeous. All the feathers that are normally red, are suppressed by a mutation, and show as yellow instead. He has a mate who is a normal-colored female. I wonder if they can (and will) have any yellow offspring.
Every so often we think we want to leave Florida, Every so often we think we want to leave Florida, or downsize to a smaller house, or just move for whatever reason. Right about that time, I venture into my backyard and realize I can never leave this paradise. Great egret in the morning light beside a coontie plant across the pond.
Female northern cardinal #allmightybirds #animal Female northern cardinal 
 #allmightybirds
#animalfanatics
#anythingfeathered
#bestbirds
#bestbirdsofinstagram
#bestofthesunshinestate
#birdextreme
#birdextremefeatures
#birding
#birdingphotography
#bird_watchers_daily
#birds_bees_flowers_n_trees
#birdsandblooms
#birds_adored
#bird_brilliance
#birdselite
#eye_for_earth
#feather_perfection
#global4nature
#igbirds
#majestic_wildlife_
#natureaddict
#natureshooters
#photooftheday
#world_bestanimal
#your_best_birds
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#birdphotographyworld
Warning: Cuteness overload! Green Jay, Edinburg, Warning: Cuteness overload! 

Green Jay, Edinburg, Texas
Northern Cardinals are found across the eastern ha Northern Cardinals are found across the eastern half of the United States, as well as the Southwest and into Latin America. They're very common, as you probably know. While it wasn't a bird I was hoping to see in Texas, it turned out that several individuals provided beautiful opportunities for photos. Here is a female Northern Cardinal posing for a moment.
Summer tanager bathing in the pond just before dus Summer tanager bathing in the pond just before dusk. I think these stay in the Rio Grande Valley all summer, whereas in central Florida they only pass through during migration. What beautiful birds!
This is a long-billed thrasher. Compare it to my l This is a long-billed thrasher. Compare it to my last post of a curve-billed thrasher and you'll see that this one has darker and more distinct spots. Long bill = long black spots. I thought about editing out the fly...would you have kept it or not? I like things pretty authentic so I kept it in.
I enjoyed learning how to identify long-billed and I enjoyed learning how to identify long-billed and curve-billed thrashers. They're actually quite easy to tell apart once you've gotten used to it - the spots on the breast are the main difference. Here is a curve-billed thrasher with its more muted spots.
I had an amazing trip to South Texas a couple of w I had an amazing trip to South Texas a couple of weeks ago, on a trip led by the super talented @nancyelwood and also with the amazing @ruthhoytphoto. What an incredible opportunity to photograph the birds of the area, and to learn from their expertise. This was a low-light, very grainy photo that I "fixed" using Topaz Denoise, and I'm thrilled with the result...and I didn't even piddle with it for very long.
Green Jay
What a morning! I took the dogs out for their morn What a morning! I took the dogs out for their morning constitutional, and I immediately noticed a head with a long bill peeking over the grass. I abandoned my pups and ran back inside to get my camera. I got two shots before this Wilson's snipe flew across the water into the grasses beyond.

Then, while I was basking in my good luck, one of the dogs flushed three more snipe! I hadn't even looked for others, but there they were, three more flying across the water into the same area the first had gone.

Of course, my camera settings were all wrong and the photo came out dark and grainy, but I still can't believe my good luck to have FOUR Wilson's snipe in my backyard.
I haven’t been birding much except in the backya I haven’t been birding much except in the backyard, but I did go back through some old photos and recorded a few lists in other counties in eBird so I’d have a record of those species and the counties where I’ve birded. I took this in 2016 at Ding Darling in Sanibel. So many of my photos from back then make@m me cringe today, but this one wasn’t too bad despite the low light. Spotted sandpiper…without any spots. The line through the eye is a good field mark for this species. Thank you @schmegan12 for teaching me that! 

This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count. Have you birded yet? If not, get out there! Spend just 15 minutes doing eBird and get entered to win…something. I forgot what! Pete and I are heading out to a new-to-him location tomorrow and I hope to have some new photos to share with you!
#greatbackyardbirdcount #spottedsandpiper #dingdarling #sanibelisland #floridabirds
I've never been so excited about such a crappy pho I've never been so excited about such a crappy photo. But @cassiekroo and @schmegan and I decided to try for the short-eared owl near Tallahassee last weekend and we got it!
At St. Mark's we found a number of red-cockaded wo At St. Mark's we found a number of red-cockaded woodpeckers. I have seen them less than a handful of times before, I think only twice. They are listed as near-threatened due to habitat destruction, as they require 100-year-old pine trees for their nesting cavities. You can recognize their nests by the pine sap dripping in abundance from the bottom of the entrance - a protective feature that keeps out snakes and other predators. The woodpecker in this shot was actively pecking at trees to look for the insects they love to eat. Swipe to see the same individual in a second image.
Pardon my lack of posting recently - it's been har Pardon my lack of posting recently - it's been hard to find time. I did manage to take off the weekend to go with friends on our annual trip to St. Mark's NWR in the Florida panhandle. And guess who we found? Pinky was really far away, but last year we missed him completely.

He (or maybe she) arrived with Hurricane Michael in 2018 and has never left. We always ask, isn't he lonely? Why doesn't he leave? No one knows, but he's made St. Mark's his home for over three years now.

💖💖💖💖💖
When the subject is faster than your shutter speed When the subject is faster than your shutter speed... at least it's not full of grain and noise! 😂
Gnatcatchers look like they'd be so cuddly if only Gnatcatchers look like they'd be so cuddly if only you could catch them!
At Shiloh Road last Satuday, we also encountered t At Shiloh Road last Satuday, we also encountered three red-shouldered hawks. Two were flying over the road and calling to another one that was further northeast of us.
This is what I was so excited about yesterday, and This is what I was so excited about yesterday, and my friend David just confirmed my ID. It's a sedge wren! They are super secretive and the only reason this isn't a lifer is that I heard one last year - ONCE - that David ID'ed by sound. I'd never seen one. And I even got this one to stop long enough and in space open enough for a photo. Yay!!!!
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Recent Posts

  • How to Photograph Birds in Flight
  • Why the Size of a Bird is Such a Difficult Field Indicator
  • Where to Find Birds
  • Not All Blue Birds are Bluebirds
  • How Nature Reuses Its Resources

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