Observations, ideas, and wonderings on birds encountered in the landscape.
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The Blue Jays Harass a Barred Owl
Early one morning in Inwood Hill Park a few days ago, a Barred Owl was minding its own business in the White Pines when Blue Jays began to take notice and noisily harass it. The miffed owl then flew from its comfy pine tree to a bare deciduous tree and eventually to another pine nearby.… Read more
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An Eastern Phoebe Explores the White Pines
An Eastern Phoebe has been frequenting the White Pines area of Inwood Hill Park for the past couple of days. This particular gathering of Eastern White Pine trees, located in an elevated part of the forest and marked by a park sign, as well as the adjacent forest clearing must be harboring plenty of insects… Read more
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The Northern Flicker and the Way of the Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are commonly seen and heard all year round throughout Inwood Hill Park, and now the migratory Northern Flickers have joined them. Downy Woodpeckers are common here, and so are Red-bellied Woodpeckers. A Hairy Woodpecker and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker may sometimes be seen. A Pileated Woodpecker, which I have yet to see, is the Holy… Read more
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A Sky Full of Hawks
On Friday, March 31, 2023, a fellow birder and I started counting many Red-tailed Hawks circling over the trees above Inwood Hill Park near the marsh, and at one point we reached a consensus of seven hawks. Red-tailed Hawks are a common sight in the park, but conditions that day seemed favorable for an unusually… Read more
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The Return of the Great Egret
One of the most familiar figures in the waters of Inwood Hill Park, the Great Egret has returned for its spring and summery residency. The Great Egret fishes in salt and fresh water, and the confluence of the rivers here provides a mixture of both sources of water. The Salt Marsh helps filter pollutants. As… Read more
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Birds in Silhouette and the Case of the Barred Owl
As a practice, birding involves the ability to scan the landscape and pick out anomalies in trees, the surface of the river, in the sky, and so forth. The process for trees goes something like this – see a tree, then a branch, and then more trees, a stump, some gnarly branches, twigs, another tree,… Read more
Birds of Inwood 