Tag: photography
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Meditations on a Great Blue Heron
And more tales of flight from early spring migration Great Blue Heron A Great Blue Heron arrived at the Salt Marsh a couple of days ago, basically on time compared with previous years. In an erratic and unpredictable time characterized by volatility and uncertainty, the heron’s appearance brings a comforting sense of continuity. I do…
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Hooded Mergansers Join the Early Spring Party in Inwood Hill Park
Even among a hundred gulls, dozens of ducks, and a score of geese, a pair of small Hooded Mergansers stood out in the waters of the park on the morning of March 25, 2025. They were festive looking creatures, discernible by their small size and their vigorous wading and diving. The bright white head patch…
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As Foretold, a Red-breasted Merganser Visits Inwood Hill Park
Cornell Lab’s BirdCast resumed posting live migration tools on March 1, noting on the Migration Dashboard for New York County that among the expected nocturnal migrants this time of year we should look for Red-breasted Mergansers. And, sure enough, a Red-breasted Merganser showed up in our local waters. On the early morning of March 6…
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The Cooper’s Hawk of Cooper Street
The Cooper Street Rock stretches high above Cooper Street in Inwood, and on the rock grows a tall tree popular with all sorts of birds. The short street lined with apartment buildings is named after James Fenimore Cooper, the author of The Last of the Mohicans (1826). A Cooper’s Hawk often visits this rugged summit,…
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A Gull, a Goose, and the Odd Duck in Wild and Wintry Weather
New York City is experiencing a real winter this season with weather fronts bringing snow, freezing rain, and sleet to the metropolis. This year, the winter has been cold enough for the waterways to be covered in icy islands and sheets of ice floes. Periodic warmups have thawed the rivers and inlets. This weather pattern…
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Drawing Juncos
Lately I’ve been drawing and painting Dark-eyed Juncos, quintessential winter birds. During the recent snowfalls and bouts of freezing weather, I have looked for flocks of these little New World sparrows. I often find them in company of the Tufted Titmice, the White-throated Sparrows, and the Black-capped Chickadees, but sometimes the juncos are off on…
Birds of Inwood 