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The Helpful Birder

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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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  • Florida scrub jay
    Florida Birding Hotspots

    Cruickshank Sanctuary, Brevard County

    The Helen and Allan Cruickshank Sanctuary is located on Barnes Boulevard in Rockledge, Florida. It consists of 140 acres of pine flatwoods and scrub habitat. The biggest attraction at this location…

    May 13, 2020
  • King Rail, Viera Wetlands
    Florida Birding Hotspots

    Viera Wetlands, Brevard County, Florida

    Note: Viera Wetlands is currently COMPLETELY closed. It is expected to reopen in December of 2023 to walkers and bikers, but it’s not expected that cars will be allowed to drive…

    April 2, 2020
  • Florida Birding Hotspots

    Black Point Wildlife Drive, Brevard County

    If you want to bird in Florida, one of the best places you can choose is the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The land is owned by NASA, but operated by…

    April 2, 2020
  • 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-tailed 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
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This is the best shot of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet th This is the best shot of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet that I’ve ever gotten. I’d still like to see the red crest, but maybe one day!
It was hard to decide which Abert’s Towhee to shar It was hard to decide which Abert’s Towhee to share. The one you’ll see in the first 4 photos gave us such good looks, almost posing, but I think something is wrong. It’s missing feathers around its eyes, suggesting mites or a disease, or maybe just molting... I’m not sure. I would welcome any insight. The fifth photo was in the same spot, but a different individual with the more normal darker face.

The individual that was actually my lifer was earlier in the day, but the shots are poor.

374 (US) / 545 (World)
One of the best things about birding with a local One of the best things about birding with a local guide is knowing how special a bird is when THEY get excited. My guide, Gordon, was all about these Lawrence’s Goldfinches. And I see why - they’re very unique and somewhat geographically restricted. The first and third photos are the male (same individual) and the second photo is the female.

Lifer 373 (US) / 574 (World)
Not the best photograph by any means, but here are Not the best photograph by any means, but here are two Hepatic Tanagers - 372 on my US list, 543 on my world list. I was happy to get both the male (red) and female (yellow) in the same frame. This is as close as they came to each other…maybe they don’t really like each other that much 😄

Not photographed: 371 / 542 was a Rufous-crowned Sparrow.
American Snout butterflies are very easy to spot i American Snout butterflies are very easy to spot in Arizona; they were all over the place, especially in Phoenix. This photo is of one in Madera Canyon, near Tucson.
Lifer 370 / 541 is this Bewick’s Wren, who has suc Lifer 370 / 541 is this Bewick’s Wren, who has such a beautiful song! We saw this one on the trail that runs on the other side of the creek behind the Santa Rita lodge.

Lifer 368 / 539 (2nd and 3rd photo) was a Townsend’s Warbler. Not great shots, but I’m happy to have some photos of it.

Not shown: 369 / 540 Hutton’s Vireo - never saw it, but we heard them several times, again on the trail.
Lifer 366 (US) / 537 (World) for me is the Pine Si Lifer 366 (US) / 537 (World) for me is the Pine Siskin, and 367/ 538 is the Lesser Goldfinch. You’ll see some of both in these photos. The image at the water feature that has two different species shows the goldfinch on the left and the siskin on the right.
Lifer 365 (US) / 535 (World) is this adorable Brid Lifer 365 (US) / 535 (World) is this adorable Bridled Titmouse. There were tons, but they spent so much time eating that I don’t have many photos except gathered around a feeder. I did think these three were particularly cute, though!
Although not rare, I was very excited to get to se Although not rare, I was very excited to get to see the Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma wollweberi) in Arizona. Although not mentioned in the bird’s common name, it’s actually a scrub-jay, in the same genus as our Florida Scrub-jays. I noted a lot of similar behavior as well, some of which you can glean from the different micro-habitats in these photos.

Lifer 364 (US) / 535 (World)

#mexicanjay #santaritalodge #maderacanyon #arizonabirds
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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

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  • Florida Birds of Prey
  • Birding St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge in January

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