I have always wanted to see a Pileated Woodpecker in Inwood Hill Park, and I finally saw one this morning. I was wrapping up my birding walk and ready to go home when I met a fellow birder who let me know about the Pileated in the Clove. He said he learned about it from another birder. I wasn’t far away so I thought that maybe I could find it.
There it was, in all its glory, drumming away at a fallen dead tree near the sacred circle in heart of the Clove.
I heard that Pileated Woodpeckers were large birds, and I was indeed surprised by its grand size.
After several minutes, a group of people with their off-leash dogs walked by, and it flew away. A few minutes later, a couple of birders came by looking for it. I showed them my pictures, and they pointed out it was a male because of the red “mustache” on its cheek.
Walking home, I ran into another birder who said she saw it yesterday on the most eastern ridge of the park. We exchanged how thrilling it was to see it up close. I showed her these pictures.
Recent posts
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Northern Cardinals have resumed singing their song of spring this past week, so you would never know that NYC and parts of the Tri-State area are currently under a blizzard warning. As I write, the temperatures are mild, and the sky is blue. The blizzard warning is the first such weather alert issued for NYC… Read more: Blizzard Warning: A Great Blue Heron Hunkers Down, and Other Stories of the Birds of Inwood in a Cold and Snowy Month - A Red-shouldered Hawk for Valentine’s Day
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A quarrel of sparrows has descended on my fire escape each morning this January, asking for some seeds. A year or so ago, I tossed a handful of seeds out my kitchen window. They never forgot. Recently, as the snows and cold weather have descended on the city and on much of the rest of… Read more: The Snows of January and the Birds of Inwood
Birds of Inwood 
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