Category: Muscota Marsh
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The Double-crested Cormorants of Spuyten Duyvil
Double-crested Cormorants frequent the waters of Spuyten Duyvil Creek, a turbulent tidal estuary that runs between the Hudson and Harlem Rivers at the top of Manhattan Island. These inky-colored waterbirds possess a strong hooked bill that gives them efficient powers over small fish. While Double-crested Cormorants are large and strong, their impressive feathers lack…
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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…
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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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After the Smoke Cleared, New Signs of Life at the Salt Marsh
On Wednesday, June 7, dense trails of smoke from wildfires in Canada descended on New York City, thickening the skies with one of the worst pollution events in the city’s history. The Air Quality Index (AQI) hovered in the hazardous zone by the afternoon. Apocalyptic images of the famous skyline of the city, suddenly covered…
Birds of Inwood 