Category: fall migration
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Easy Fall Birding with White-throated Sparrows
Even if I have only ten minutes to go birdwatching this time of year, I can always walk to the edge of Inwood Hill Park, look down, and find at least a dozen White-throated Sparrows. Pretty birds with white throats and yellow lores, these sparrows also possess a sweet, lilting song. Cornell’s All About…
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The Birds for Our New York City Moment
Over the course of several busy and consequential days for New York City— a thrilling Halloween Parade, a photo finish for the NYC Marathon, and the city’s historic mayoral election— thousands of birds flew overhead. Some were late migrants en route to winter homes and springtime in the Southern Hemisphere. Other birds came here to…
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Fall Birding Falls Into Place: Notable Birds of Inwood During Mid-October
The last two weeks brought some volatile weather, including a big Nor’easter and high wind events, to the Salt Marsh and to the forest of Inwood Hill Park. The pace of fall migration sped up and then died down. Sometimes, on an average morning, there were many birds, and on other days, nothing much to…
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The Green Roof of the Javits Center: Birds, Climate, and Action
On Tuesday, September 23, I attended NYC Bird Alliance’s tour of the Green Roof at the Javits Center. I was there to see how the Javits Center, New York City’s main convention venue, transformed its facility into a climate-forward and bird-friendly nexus of urban infrastructure. The Javits Center sits on land near the Hudson River…
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In a Different Forest: Fall Birdwatching in the West Point Foundry Preserve
The West Point Foundry Preserve in Cold Spring, NY, was quiet when I arrived there on Tuesday morning. Stepping off the train, the background noises disappeared, something a New Yorker would notice. As soon as I began my walk along the forested trail, I heard crows loudly calling overhead in the trees. I heard herons…
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Catching Flies with a Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Earlier this week, the locals experienced two full days and nights of over 300,000 birds flying through New York County. Many flycatchers, warblers, vireos, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks landed in Inwood Hill Park during these days, especially at the top of the forest. The birds found plenty of seeds and insects to replenish their diets. Many…
Birds of Inwood 