Birds of Inwood

Great Blue Herons should be on the list of top New York City attractions.

Northern Manhattan is somewhat remote, so few tourists find their way up this far north. Most visitors willing to take the A train to the last northern stops may make their way to the Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s branch devoted to medieval art. They may also roam the lovely gardens of surrounding Fort Tryon Park. I would recommend to any visitor that they should also make it a point to see the Great Blue Herons of Inwood Hill Park. They’re near the last stop on the A at 207.

The herons may be a seasonal attraction, or even not appear at all, but if the timing is right, the spectacle of heron activity can be highly satisfying and fulfilling.

Should herons appear, viewers may be able to watch multiple Great Blue Herons engaged in several different activities such as flying, fishing, and perching on trees limbs out of the water. Black-crowned Night Herons may be there, too. I was lucky enough to see a Green Heron on the morning of September 1.

On Tuesday, August 29, 2023, starting about an hour after the afternoon’s low tide, I was privileged to watch a Great Blue Herons performance that lasted about the length of a Broadway matinee.

The plot was simple. Two Great Blue Herons flew in from the direction of the Hudson River and the Henry Hudson Bridge, one following the other. The youngest one, one without fully-grown chest feathers, took to the waters of Muscota Marsh for fishing opportunities. This heron had great luck, bringing with it a healthy appetite and the determination to catch and eat the largest fish in the river.

At the same time the heron was fishing the waters, several human fisherman lined the shore and could only sit back and admire the heron’s skills. The young heron struggled to swallow several large fish at the same time but was successful.

After eating such a large meal, the heron flew around and eventually landed in a tree on the south shore of the Salt Marsh. Several park visitors enjoyed the spectacle of the heron out of water, alert and watchful of its surroundings.

Meanwhile, the older heron waded over through the rising water to the heron in the tree. Eventually, the young heron took off again and flew to a tree near the nature center, and the older one moved back to shallow water off the peninsula near the resident Great Egret.

Around 5:20 pm, the Circle Line tour of Manhattan arrived. Some visitors may have caught the end of the act. At around 5:25 pm, an Osprey landed on the nearby Osprey tree, the start of an additional performance.

Cover: Great Blue Heron in tree. August 29, 2023. 4:56 pm.

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New! September sightings

I post new pictures regularly on the Sightings pages. Follow along for September.