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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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  • How to Photograph Birds in Flight
    Bird Photography

    How to Photograph Birds in Flight

    One of the hardest things to photograph in nature is a bird in flight. It’s a technique that takes both study and practice. If you’d like to improve your bird in…

    February 7, 2022
  • judging the size of a bird
    General Birding

    Why the Size of a Bird is Such a Difficult Field Indicator

    One useful way to identify a bird is by size. Everyone knows an eagle is bigger than a sparrow, a mallard duck bigger than a cardinal. In fact, it’s a great…

    January 12, 2022
  • Where to find birds
    Featured Posts General Birding

    Where to Find Birds

    Birds are everywhere, right? That’s totally true, except when you’re armed with your field guide, a pair of binoculars, a packed lunch, and a camera. Then they’re nowhere to be found.…

    January 6, 2022
  • Eastern bluebird, Flagler County, Florida
    Featured Posts General Birding

    Not All Blue Birds are Bluebirds

    For beginning birders, the easiest way to identify a bird is by color. Northern Cardinals are red, American Goldfinches are yellow, Eastern Bluebirds are blue. (After all, that’s why they’re called…

    January 6, 2022
  • Featured Posts General Birding

    How Nature Reuses Its Resources

    I find it fascinating how resources are reused by nature in many ways. One example of how nature reuses things is a basic hole in a pine tree. I have really…

    August 2, 2020
  • Florida Scrub-Jays
    Bird Species

    Species Spotlight: Florida Scrub-Jays

    Many of us here in eastern North America know and love (or hate) the beautiful Blue Jay. But there are many other jays present in the US as well, and one…

    May 27, 2020
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Susan Petracco - The Helpful Birder

thehelpfulbirder

Juuuuuust a few birds at Huguenot Memorial Park! T Juuuuuust a few birds at Huguenot Memorial Park! This dune was absolutely dripping with Royal Terns and a few Laughing Gulls!!!

Common Name: Royal Tern
Scientific Name: Thalasseus maximus
Location: Huguenot Memorial Park, Jacksonville, Florida US

#best_birds_of_ig
#best_birds_of_world
#bestbirdshots
#birdfreaks
#birds_captures
#birds_private
#birdsonearth
#eye_spy_birds
#feather_perfection
#nature_brilliance
#nuts_about_birds
#planetbirds
#your_best_birds
#women_photographyworldwide
#futurewomenphotography
#fbpc_birds
#universal_bird
Willet? Won't it? The first picture is a Willet, t Willet? Won't it? The first picture is a Willet, the second is a sleepy "Won't It"! 😆 Hmmm...I hope that joke plays in writing.

Common Name: Willet
Scientific Name: Tringa semipalmata
Location: Huguenot Memorial Park, Jacksonville, Florida US

#best_birds_of_ig
#best_birds_of_world
#bestbirdshots
#birdfreaks
#birds_captures
#birds_private
#birdsonearth
#eye_spy_birds
#feather_perfection
#nature_brilliance
#nuts_about_birds
#planetbirds
#your_best_birds
#women_photographyworldwide
#futurewomenphotography
#fbpc_birds
#universal_bird
I was always told that Amelia Island is wonderful I was always told that Amelia Island is wonderful for birds, that there are just so many of them! Well, now we know why! 😆 Please swipe for additional "antics"!

Common Name: Laughing Gull / Royal Tern
Scientific Name: Leucophaeus atricilla / Thalasseus maximus
Location: Amelia Island, Florida, US

#best_birds_of_ig
#best_birds_of_world
#bestbirdshots
#birdfreaks
#birds_captures
#birds_private
#birdsonearth
#eye_spy_birds
#feather_perfection
#nature_brilliance
#nuts_about_birds
#planetbirds
#your_best_birds
#women_photographyworldwide
#futurewomenphotography
#fbpc_birds
#universal_bird
I think our trip to Amelia a couple of weeks ago w I think our trip to Amelia a couple of weeks ago was only the second time I've ever seen Gull-billed Terns. They are so pretty! Scroll for (many) more flight shots of this beauty.

Common Name: Gull-billed Tern
Scientific Name: Gelochelidon nilotica
Location: Spoonbill Pond, Big Talbot SP, Jacksonville, Florida US

#best_birds_of_ig
#best_birds_of_world
#bestbirdshots
#birdfreaks
#birds_captures
#birds_private
#birdsonearth
#eye_spy_birds
#feather_perfection
#nature_brilliance
#nuts_about_birds
#planetbirds
#your_best_birds
#women_photographyworldwide
#futurewomenphotography
#fbpc_birds
#universal_bird
Class is in session!!! This Red Knot is presiding Class is in session!!! This Red Knot is presiding over a school room full of unruly Sanderlings! 

Common Name: Red Knot / Sanderling
Scientific Name: Calidris canutus / Calidris alba
Location: Huguenot Memorial Park, Jacksonville, Florida US

#best_birds_of_ig
#best_birds_of_world
#bestbirdshots
#birdfreaks
#birds_captures
#birds_private
#birdsonearth
#eye_spy_birds
#feather_perfection
#nature_brilliance
#nuts_about_birds
#planetbirds
#your_best_birds
#women_photographyworldwide
#futurewomenphotography
#fbpc_birds
#universal_bird
I shared this duck before but a slightly different I shared this duck before but a slightly different photo from when it was on a different part of the lake. I have been saving this one for the next time I wanted to share a duck, which turned out to be today! 😉

Common Name: Lesser Scaup
Scientific Name: Aythya affinis
Location: Viera, Florida, US
The Eastern Kingbird is a bit of a nemesis bird fo The Eastern Kingbird is a bit of a nemesis bird for me; often when my husband and I see one, it flies off before I can even grab my camera. This one was much more cooperative and posed at the top of this tree for a long time.

Common Name: Eastern Kingbird 
Scientific Name: Tyrannus tyrannus
Location: Sebastian Inlet State Park, Florida, US

#best_birds_of_ig
#best_birds_of_world
#bestbirdshots
#birdfreaks
#birds_captures
#birds_private
#birdsonearth
#eye_spy_birds
#feather_perfection
#nature_brilliance
#nuts_about_birds
#planetbirds
#your_best_birds
#women_photographyworldwide
#futurewomenphotography
#fbpc_birds
#universal_bird
Have you ever thought you had a life bird, then ch Have you ever thought you had a life bird, then checked against your list and realized you'd already seen one? 🤦 Apparently I had the Red Knot on my list from Cley Marshes in England, so this wasn't a lifer. However, it's new to my US list!

Common Name: Red Knot
Scientific Name: Calidris canutus
Location: Huguenot Memorial Park, Jacksonville, Florida, US

#best_birds_of_ig
#best_birds_of_world
#bestbirdshots
#birdfreaks
#birds_captures
#birds_private
#birdsonearth
#eye_spy_birds
#feather_perfection
#nature_brilliance
#nuts_about_birds
#planetbirds
#your_best_birds
#women_photographyworldwide
#futurewomenphotography
#fbpc_birds
#universal_bird
#shorebirds
#ameliaisland
#redknot
We spent the weekend in Amelia Island and I can't We spent the weekend in Amelia Island and I can't wait to share some of those photos with you, but I am swamped right now, it's crazy! So here's a Prairie Warbler from a couple of weeks ago at Sebastian Inlet, one I had already processed and exported. Hopefully in the next day or two I can learn how to fold space and time... 😇

Common Name: Prairie Warbler
Scientific Name: Setophaga discolor
Location: Sebastian Inlet State Park, Florida, US
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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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