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The Helpful Birder

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Not All Blue Birds are Bluebirds

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How Nature Reuses Its Resources

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Species Spotlight: Swallow-tailed Kites

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    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
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    General Birding

    My Birding 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
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    How to Attract Painted Buntings to Your Yard

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

    March 19, 2020
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The Redwing is a very common thrush in Iceland, wh The Redwing is a very common thrush in Iceland, where you will find this subspecies, the Icelandic Redwing (Turdus iliacus coburni). This particular individual is the first of many that I saw as we made our way around the island. #iceland #pingvellir #pingvellirnationalpark #icelandbirds #redwing
Puffins seem to be the itchiest birds I’ve ever en Puffins seem to be the itchiest birds I’ve ever encountered! iPhone video from Hafnarholmi, Iceland.

#puffins #atlanticpuffin #iceland #icelandbirds #iceland
A majestic elk for this mammal Monday - 13 points? A majestic elk for this mammal Monday - 13 points? I’m not sure how you count them. This guy was huge and he kept everyone in check. Humans included. 

#mammalmonday #elkcountry #ruttingseason
A few of my favorite things! #caterpillars #puffi A few of my favorite things!

#caterpillars #puffins #butterflies #flycatcher
My first encounter with an Arctic Tern in Iceland My first encounter with an Arctic Tern in Iceland - or anywhere for that matter #lifer They’re very common all around the island, and aggressively defend their nesting grounds. I’ll post a story about that too. These birds migrate further than any other species in the world: 44,000 to 50,000 miles (70,000 to 80,000 km) round trip!

#arctictern #icelandbirds #tern #seabirds
I’ll just be gone an hour, no more… back in a jiff I’ll just be gone an hour, no more… back in a jiffy…

Florida Scrub Jay

#birding #birdhumor #floridascrubjay #backsoon #floridabirding
I loved seeing Razorbills for the first time while I loved seeing Razorbills for the first time while in Iceland. Please swipe for a second image showing the complete photo, which looks like the Razorbill is a lead singer and the three Common Murres are his backup.
Redshanks calling while in flight (photo 1) and pe Redshanks calling while in flight (photo 1) and perched (photo 2). I think this might be the most common bird species in Iceland. If not in sheer numbers like the puffins, then at least in the frequency of places we saw them.

#redshank #iceland #icelandbirds #icelandwildlife #birdingphotography
I’ve now discovered firsthand what people mean whe I’ve now discovered firsthand what people mean when they say to use scientific names rather than common ones. In Iceland, I saw a lot of what we in North America call Common Murre, shown here in the first photo nesting on cliffs visible from the ferry as we approached Heimaey. The scientific name is Uria aalge, and elsewhere the common name is Common Guillemot.

The second photo is very distant, but this is a Black Guillemot. This common name is the same in Europe and North America. Cepphus grylle is the scientific name.

While related, these are two species who share a similar habitat but belong to in different genera. Now, try birding in Iceland where the people around you speak a different language - in the specific case I experienced it was French - and you’re trying to figure out which one you’re looking at and talking about.

Lesson learned: study ahead, bring a real guide book, or learn French. 😜

#icelandbirding #heimaey #commonmurre #guillemot #icelandphotography
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