Tag: Inwood Hill Park
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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…
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An Eastern Kingbird Guards the Peninsula

Cover image: Eastern Kingbird on the Peninsula. Inwood Hill Park. July 6, 2023 For the past few days, as well as for the past few months and possibly for years, an Eastern Kingbird has fiercely guarded its seasonal territory on the Peninsula in Inwood Hill Park. This narrow strip of land, home to the neighborhood’s…
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Otherworldly Cedar Waxwings, and Their Comings and Goings

Cover image: Cedar Waxwing in a tree next to the Salt Marsh. Inwood Hill Park. June 3, 2023. Whenever I encounter Cedar Waxwings, and they generally travel in groups, they seem to arrive from outer space. They are all beautiful and mysterious, thanks to those masks. Their arrival is unpredictable, appearing out of the blue,…
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Vultures Among Us

Of all the wonderful sightings of birds this month, I continue to be haunted by the apparition of two great-winged creatures in Inwood Hill Park on the morning of June 13. They were Turkey Vultures. I was walking in the Clove and listening to the musical song of the Wood Thrush when my eye caught…
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Suddenly, Ospreys

(UPDATED June 11, 2023) A pair of Ospreys has been active at the Salt Marsh and Muscota Marsh in recent days, and there’s some indication that they may attempt to stay. On the late afternoons of May 29 and 30, the Ospreys were flying over the marshes and diving feet first into the waters to…
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Listening to the American Redstart

Like most warblers, the American Redstart is a petite bundle of energy unwilling to sit still for pictures. It appears in quick flashes, a blur of black and orange (the male) while flitting from tree to tree to forage for insects. Though dressed in the colors of Halloween (a frequent characterization), American Redstarts are rarely…
