A visual journal exploring the birds of Inwood and Northern Manhattan by Teri Tynes

  • Early Morning Birdwatching in the Heat of Summer

    Birdwatching during the early morning hours is often a favorite time for birders in general, but during a summer heatwave, the earlier the better. The month of July is frequently hot in New York City, but in the past few days the heat has been amplified by high humidity and poor air quality. Still, an…

  • The Birds of Inwood Cool Off in the Natural Springs

    The recent heat wave over the Northeast lasted an entire week, from June 17 to June 23, 2024. The air was often oppressively hot. Amid the dangerous conditions of combined heat and humidity, officials in New York City opened cooling centers. Staying indoors in air-conditioned buildings seemed the best solution for those particularly vulnerable to…

  • A Common Grackle Takes the Waters of Inwood Hill Park

    A Common Grackle has lately been foraging for food and bathing in a flooded part of the path leading to the open athletic fields in Inwood Hill Park. I’ve observed it splashing in the puddle and dipping berries into the cool water. Many other birds have taken to this large puddle, including Mallards, European Starlings,…

  • Notes from Spring Migration 2024 – Common Yellowthroats at the Masked Ball

    I’ll never forget the first time I saw a Common Yellowthroat. It was several years ago in Central Park during spring migration. I was new to birding and learning the ropes from seasoned birders. I was dazzled by the warblers and couldn’t quite keep up with the sightings. We were along The Loch on Central…

  • Cedar Waxwings and a House Finch in the Juneberries of Isham Park 

    If it’s June, go find a Juneberry shrub or tree (or call it serviceberry or Amelanchier, if you prefer) bearing fruit. Cedar Waxwings may be there as well as other birds. They are all after the berries.  A fellow birder asked me the other day if I had seen the Cedar Waxwings in Isham Park,…

  • Inwood Hill Nature Center Opens and the Summer Begins

    On Saturday, June 1, 2024, Inwood residents and visitors finally got to walk inside the Inwood Hill Nature Center. Shuttered for twelve years following extensive damage from Hurricane Sandy in October of 2012, the renovation of the Art Deco building in Inwood Hill Park (originally designed as a boathouse before it became a nature center)…