Category: Black-crowned Night Heron
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A Hot Heron Summer at the Salt Marsh

The summer of 2024 has been hot in New York City, with successive heat waves and uncomfortable levels of humidity. Still, the early hours of the summer mornings have been mostly tolerable for rewarding outdoor excursions in Inwood Hill Park. Low tide at the Salt Marsh is the best time to watch herons fishing, but…
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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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The Ebb and Flow of Egrets and Herons

At high tide on the Salt Marsh, one Great Blue Heron tends to perch on a tree above the shoreline while a younger one explores the tunnel between the Salt Marsh and Muscota Marsh. The Great Egret often perches on another branch or on a railing on a dock. They are all waiting for the…
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Two Herons in the Stillness of Dusk

On the evening of July 14, I walked over to the Salt Marsh in Inwood Hill Park to follow up on reports of a Black-crowned Night Heron there. I did get to see it, but first I was completely captivated by the stillness of another heron. The weather hasn’t been good for frequent walks of…
