When I was a young girl growing up in Texas, my family liked to take a walk in the neighborhood on the morning of Thanksgiving Day. We gathered autumn leaves and branches to decorate the dinner table. A great pecan tree grew in our front yard, alongside a magnolia and its fragrant blossoms for a later season. As the centerpiece for our Thanksgiving feast, a large cornucopia overflowed with fruits and native varieties of corn. We placed our leaves and twigs there, too. I remember that my grandmother, the daughter of immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, spearheaded the pre-feast saunter.

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.   White-throated Sparrow. November 15, 2025 Cornell’s All About Birds page on the sparrow cites “cool facts” about these birds, including the fact that they will mate with Dark-eyed Juncos from time to time. They also come in two forms - white-striped and tan-striped - and “almost always mate with a bird of the opposite morph.” (website) Keep a lookout for any hybrids. 

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 stay for winter. Still others, like many Blue Jays and Northern Cardinals, grew up here and dined in their forest home. Cedar Waxwing. November 1, 2025. 9:16 a.m. As New York City drew international attention for this dizzying sequence of seasonal events, nature gifted the city with a resplendent autumn.

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 report. Yet, the autumn foliage continues to deepen in color. The sight of brilliant gold and red leaves from the top of the forest provides enough motivation to get out for a walk.

By the time the juvenile Red-tailed Hawk landed on a perch near the Salt Marsh on October 4, it was sopping wet. It was practicing its hunting skills by buzzing over the ducks in the water and then chasing a Belted Kingfisher foraging there. The hawk and the fast kingfisher flew circles around one another over the water.    The two then flew from the main inlet of the Salt Marsh to the nearby Muscata Marsh next to the boathouse. They managed to stay clear of one another.

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 in the West 30s in Midtown Manhattan, a site within the greater Atlantic Flyway. Many birds along the Eastern coast of North America undertake their epic migratory journeys through here. Ideally, their stopover sites would include favorable natural landscapes such as diverse forests and coastal wetlands.

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 vocalizing in the Foundry Marsh. I saw a hawk of some sort over the Hudson River and a Red-winged Blackbird swinging on a tall marsh reed. An American Robin splashed in a cool stream.

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 of these migratory birds prefer to explore the tops of the forest canopy, so I spent the early mornings high up on the ridge. I found a particularly good observation spot along the highest stretch of the old walled trail that leads to the Clove at the bottom and a parapet at the top.

In 2023 and 2024, I took pictures of an Osprey perched in the tree on September 1, so this year’s landing makes it three years in a row for that exact date.

Killdeer is easy to spot with its two dark breast bands, long wings, slender tail, and large eyes. The shorebird is often running and seemingly skittish.

I enjoyed a closeup of a female Belted Kingfisher at the marsh on a recent August morning, marveling at its curious shape. Belted Kingfishers possess a big beak and a big, crested head. The rest doesn’t seem to match in proportion to what nature has provided for the head and beak.  Belted Kingfisher. August 3, 2025. 6:35 a.m. at the Salt Marsh, Inwood Hill Park This charismatic bird feeds on prey in the water, diving headfirst for fish. They need to see the fish first, so the water should be clear.

New York City has often been warm this past month, ideal for bringing out many flying insects and, in turn, the Barn Swallows that relish them. These swift flyers are mesmerizing to watch, darting over the marshlands, damp fields, and the waterfront. Barn Swallows. July 16, 2025. Inwood Hill Park. Barn Swallows are found everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere in the warm months. They typically migrate south during the winter, and many will return to the same nesting locations. With forked tails and long wings, Barn Swallows are distinguished by dark blue, rust, and saffron colors that vary with the light.

All the herons were there in Sherman Creek Park, a Harlem River waterfront park along Inwood’s east side. It was early afternoon on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. An hour and a half before low tide, members of the heron family— a Great Egret, a Great Blue Heron, and Black-crowned Night Herons (adult and juvenile)— foraged in the main Sherman Creek Inlet. Three Killdeer wandered the muddy flats. A Great Black-backed Gull perched on one of the piers. So, too did a Double-crested Cormorant. 

On the morning of July 13, within the first hour after low tide, I spotted a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron foraging for food under the boat launch at the Salt Marsh in Inwood Hill Park. When I…

This blog post is for the everyday bird photography hobbyist who may want to see their favorite bird photos displayed around the home or to give as gifts. This post on DIY photo crafts projects could be useful for professional wildlife photographers employed by National Geographic, but they are not my target audience. Bird photography is a pleasurable and addictive hobby, often resulting in the accumulation of thousands of images. Digital albums prove to be a useful resource for birders, allowing comparisons of bird activity over time. Excellent photographs of individual bird species could be submitted for various publications, the Macaulay Library, or in competition to the National Audubon Society.

I tend to be an early morning birder because that’s when the birds are active. I am also by nature a morning lark. For several days of the week, I also need to get ready for work in another part of Manhattan. Great Blue Heron. June 19, 2025. Inwood Hill Park. 7:08 a.m. I often revel in memories of my pre-work birdwatching walks. On Thursday, deep into the afternoon, I remembered the herons from the morning. Great Blue Heron. June 19, 2025. 7:11 a.m. Many Canada Geese and Mallards had gathered on the sandy islands in the main inlet that morning.

In the past few days, I’ve observed a Great Blue Heron preening in a tree, a couple of Double-crested Cormorants diving in the water, a pair of American Goldfinches flitting about bushes, several Northern Flickers here and there, and Rough-winged Swallows on an old snag at the Salt Marsh. On the morning of June 9, I saw an Osprey flying low and diving briefly into the Salt Marsh. I’ve seen other birds, too, fortunately within a good range of my camera. Someone recently asked me if I took the photos on this site.

Cedar Waxwings may seem mysterious in many ways, but they show up on time. As I’ve noted in previous posts, many fly through New York in early June on their way to Canada. Native to North America, the birds enjoy fruit and are named for the waxy secretions at the tips of the secondary feathers. They move from place to place and nest in large flocks. They look like they possess unknown superpowers or knowledge of magic.

On the morning of May 24, 2025, I watched a Common Yellowthroat flit all over one of the two hawthorn trees near the main bend of the Salt Marsh path. I stayed with this charming masked warbler for around fifteen minutes as it looked for anything good to eat. Common Yellowthroat. May 24, 2025. 7:20 a.m. The Common Yellowthroat seemed completely engaged with the microscopic life of this tree— a Cockspur hawthorn or thorn (Crataegus crus-galli), a native of eastern North America. The clusters of white flowers that bloom in late May are followed by small red fruit. 

The sight of a Yellow Warbler can bring a rare thrill during spring migration season here. Cute by any definition, their cheerful color can brighten even the grayest of days. In Inwood, I most often spot one in a tree bordering the Salt Marsh, though I will hear their song high in the forest. I don’t see them often. The Cornell Lab’s All About Birds map page on the Yellow Warbler describes their typical journey from winter grounds in Central America or northern South America. While they migrate earlier than other songbirds, “Yellow Warblers from eastern North America fly across the Gulf of Mexico in a single nonstop journey; some Yellow Warblers in fall take an overland route around the Gulf.” …

Amidst all the excitement of spring migratory birds arriving in the high canopies of Inwood Hill Park, it is sometimes easy to overlook the Salt Marsh. While walking along the marsh path on Tuesday, several vocal Baltimore Orioles in the nearby trees demanded attention. Following their movements, I glanced over to the sandy little island in the main inlet. A Spotted Sandpiper was bobbing its tail around a couple of much larger Canada Geese. Spotted Sandpiper. May 13, 2025. 9:29 a.m. The Spotted Sandpiper, one of the most common and widespread sandpipers in North America, frequents the edges of bodies of water.