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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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Featured Posts General Birding

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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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
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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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