Author: Teri Tynes
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Rain and Floods and a Hawk from Somewhere

On the morning of Friday, September 22, the day the rain began, the clouds looked like birds. This configuration of clouds – giant birds in profile with wings outstretched – signaled the arrival of the storm known as Ophelia. Rain then fell relentlessly for four days. On the afternoon of Monday, September 25, I…
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Raptor Season – Between Heaven and Earth

During the beginning of raptor season, the time that birds of prey are on the move, the sky becomes the focal point for birdwatchers in Northern Manhattan.
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A Bald Eagle Lands in the Osprey Tree

A Bald Eagle landed on the tall snag on the south side of the Salt Marsh in Inwood Hill Park this morning and stayed for about ten minutes before flying off. It brought its prey to eat – not identified – and took in the surroundings. Seeing a Bald Eagle perched on a tree in…
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The Greatest Blue Heron Show on Earth

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…
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Becoming a Black-crowned Night Heron

Black-crowned Night Herons have settled into the life of the Salt Marsh in Inwood Hill Park this summer, and I have been surprised by seeing so many of them. Both adults and juveniles have found the marsh to their liking, offering many overhanging branches at water’s edge for shade and nesting with plentiful food in…
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Visiting Great Egrets, a Spotted Sandpiper, and Other News from the Salt Marsh

The salt marshes of Inwood Hill Park continued to be lively this week with a pair of visiting Great Egrets, the arrival of shorebirds, and migrants visiting the surrounding trees. On the morning of August 8, while the continuing Great Egret and the Great Blue Heron fished or preened in the main marsh, two Great…
