June 20, 2023 Bird Photos from NYC Audubon Eco-cruise in NY Harbor to Hoffman and Swinburne Islands

As we went out into the harbor, we passed some Common Terns with eggs on Governors Island, not really in nests, just lying on the pier. 
 

 

We passed underneath the Verrazzano Bridge on our way to Hoffman and Swinburne Islands, which were formerly used as isolation areas for people with contagious diseases. 

Great Black-backed Gulls stood on the pilings around Hoffman Island.

 So did a Double-Crested Cormorant, while a baby gull watched from a wall on the island. 

       Double-crested Cormorants have built nests in the trees on Hoffman Island. 

Along with Snowy Egrets

And Black-crowned Night Herons

There were also Herring Gulls out on the rocks.

A Great Egret flew past us

As well as a Glossy Ibis

And a Fish Crow

Swinburne Island, with its ruined buildings, now belongs mostly to the Double-crested Cormorants. Plus a few gulls.

Their voluminous excretions have killed most of the trees and vegetation.

We could see the old Coney Island parachute jump in the distance before we started back.

 

When we got off the boat back at the ferry terminal by the World Financial Center, we were surprised to see a Black-crowned Night Heron up close by the Battery Park City duck pond, maybe thinking about catching one of the koi fish in there.