December 2025 – Orange Birding

2025 Year in Review

Well, the years just keep flying by; the older I get, the faster they seem to go by. With 2025 just about in the books, it’s time to take a look back at the year in birding here at Orange Birding. This year I tried an experiment where I did all my record keeping old school style – with a pen and paper in a notebook. I thought I might enjoy getting back to the way I started, but the truth is I missed the convenience and thoroughness of entering my data on eBird, so in 2026 I will be getting back to it. My notebook, meanwhile, indicates that 2025 was a productive year of birding for me. I tallied 215 species in the county, which is slightly higher than my average over the past ten years. And what was exciting about it, and what made it so enjoyable, is that a good number of the 215 were from three of my favorite types of birds: shorebirds, gulls, and geese.

SHOREBIRDS: I had a fantastic year with my absolute favorite type of birds – shorebirds. I had my highest count ever in the county, with 23 species observed. That high count was achieved in part due to an epic shorebird fallout we experienced in the area on May 31st. During that event, I observed twelve different species of shorebird and close to a thousand individuals. The bird of the day was Red Knot; several were found that day, and I believe there was only one other observation in the county previously. Other really good birds included Ruddy Turnstone (100+ individuals), and a single Red-necked Phalarope. Then, in the fall, I did very well; I somehow kept finding good birds and was even able to have a close encounter with the very elusive Upland Sandpiper.

~Upland Sandpiper in the Black Dirt Region on 08/23/25.~

GULLS: Early in the year, during the month of January, I observed the three expected species (Ring-billed, American Herring, & Great Black-backed) as well as Iceland and Lesser Black-backed at the Newburgh Waterfront. I had my first Bonaparte’s Gull of the year on March 30th, at Wickham Lake. And I reached my year total of 7 species on December 29th, with a Glaucous Gull at the Newburgh Waterfront – huge thanks to Bruce Nott for the heads up on that one. Seven species of gull falls just short of my high count for the county of eight, which I had back in 2020 and 2021.

~Bonaparte’s Gull at Wickham Lake on 04/13/25.~

GEESE: I also had a good year with geese in the county, with a total of 7 species observed. I had my first Cackling Goose of the year on January 18th. Then I was able to catch up with a Pink-footed Goose in the black dirt on March 8th. In the fall I picked up Brant in several flyovers during hawkwatch at Mount Peter. December 6th was an historic day in Orange County regarding Greater White-fronted Geese, with 29 individuals found in the Black Dirt Region. And finally I added a couple of Ross’s Geese on December 21st – thanks to Silas Wareham for the alert for those birds.

~Two of the 29 Greater White-fronted Geese in the black dirt on 12/06/25.~

TOP TEN PHOTOS OF 2025

As always, I like to include my ten favorite photos from the year. After all the years of taking photos of birds, it seems like it gets harder and harder for me to take photos that stand out to me when I go back a look at them at the end of the year. This year I was drawn to what I would consider some of my more artistic photographs. I really enjoy it when a bird photo also includes some painterly elements and I’ve included several such photos in this year’s list.

And finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all the birders out there. Thanks everyone who reads the blog and especially those of you who leave a comment from time to time – the comments make my week. I also want to thank all my birding buds out there, for all the help and because you all make it that much more fun out there. Happy New Year to all, here’s to a very birdy 2026.

~American Pipit in the black dirt on 11/02/25.~

~A young Horned Lark in the Black Dirt Region, 08/11/25.~

~Common Goldeneye at the Newburgh Waterfront on 02/08/25.~

~Red-winged Blackbirds in the black dirt on 11/02/25.~

~American Goldfinch in the black dirt on o5/25/25.~

~Yellow-billed Cuckoo at Winding Waters Trail, 05/04/25~

~Prairie Warbler at Sterling Forest S.P., 05/19/25.~

~Blackpoll Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront Trail, 12/07/25.~

~American Kestrel in the black dirt on 01/19/25.~

Sandy Hook, 12/28/25

Today I joined birding bud Maria Loukeris for a day of birding at Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area. It had been just over three years since I’d last birded Sandy Hook, so I jumped at the opportunity. We got very lucky with the weather; it was cold but with very little wind, which made it pleasant to be outside all day. All the birds we observed for the day were expected species, but there were still some nice highlights. My favorite moment of the day was getting a nice look (my first good look ever) at a beautiful Ipswich Savannah Sparrow. See excellent photo by Maria below. We also enjoyed seeing and hearing several flocks of Snow Buntings flying up and down the beach. We eventually got lucky with a flock that put down on the beach not very far from us. Also , Yellow-rumped Warblers were numerous; we seemed to be seeing and hearing them at almost every turn.

~Photo by Maria Loukeris – Ipswich Savannah Sparrow at Sandy Hook on 12/28/25.~

~Sanderling on the move at Sandy Hook, 12/28/25.~

~American Herring Gull on the snowy beach at Sandy Hook GNRA, 12/28/25.~

~One of several Snow Bunting flocks that we saw throughout the day. Sandy Hook GNRA, 12/28/25.~

~White-winged Scoter at Sandy Hook GNRA, 12/28/25.~

~Yellow-rumped Warbler at Sandy Hook, 12/28/25.~

A Good Weekend, 12/21/25

On Saturday I participated in the Christmas Bird Count for the first time ever. I joined Jodi Brodsky and birded the Newburgh Waterfront for the full day. With some key contributions from Bruce Nott, we had a total of 48 species. I’m not sure how that measures up to previous years, but I thought it was pretty good. The best bird for Jodi and I was a Great Cormorant. Thanks to Jodi for inviting me, she was a pleasure to bird with, and it was nice to do some birding with a purpose – it’s pretty rewarding.

~Red-shouldered Hawk at Chadwick Lake Park, during the CBC on 12/20/25.~

Today I hit a lot of my usual Orange County spots and got a lot of the usuals. Then I got word from Bruce that he had the Orange-crowned Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront. I ran for the bird, and it stuck around for me – I’ve included a documentary shot of the bird at the bottom of this post. Later in the day, when I was home with a cat on my lap and my feet up, Silas Wareham contacted me. He had two ROSS’S GEESE in the Black Dirt Region. I ran for the birds and joined Silas and Linda Scrima who were on the birds when I arrived. It’s an interesting couple of geese – there is a fairly obvious size difference between the two, but I believe that can be attributed to sexual dimorphism. I will be reporting both of these birds as Ross’s, and we will see if the report is accepted.

~Ross’s Geese in the black dirt, 12/21/25.~

~One more shot of the Ross’s Geese in the black dirt, 12/21/25.~

~Northern Yellow Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront Trail, 12/21/25.~

~A young Cooper’s Hawk, just after sunrise this morning in the black dirt, 12/21/25.~

~Orange-crowned Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront Trail, 12/21/25.~

Sunday Shots, 12/07/25

Well it was quite a weekend of birding! The big excitement was, of course, the record-breaking number of GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE on Saturday. It was an exciting find for me, and it seems like a lot of birders have gotten to see them in the past day and a half. Other notable observations included:

(13) Sandhill Cranes at the Liberty Loop
White-crowned Sparrow, Gambel’s subspecies, also at the Liberty Loop
Great Horned Owl in the Black Dirt Region
Common Loon at Wickham Lake, just after sunrise Sunday morning, complete with beautiful calling
Northern Yellow Warbler and Blackpoll Warbler at Newburgh Waterfront
Loads of Horned Larks, a large flock of Snow Buntings, and a single Lapland Longspur (still no photo this season!)

~I didn’t think I would be posting a colorful warbler photo in early December. Blackpoll Warbler at the Newburgh Waterfront, 12/078/25.~

~Great Horned Owl in the black dirt, 12/06/25.~

~Common Loon at Wickham Lake, 12/07/25.~

~Ring-necked Duck at Round Lake, 12/07/25.

~I love this pose! Northern Mockingbird at the Newburgh Waterfront, 12/07/25.~

~I haven’t photographed one of these dudes in a while. Hooded Merganser at Round Lake, 12/07/25.~

~Terrible photo of a remarkable 13 Sandhill Cranes at the Liberty Loop, 12/06/25.~

A Record Breaking Day, 12/06/25

First thing this morning I followed up on reports of seven Greater White-fronted Geese from the past couple of days. Unfortunately, the birds were not present at the reported location. I spent the morning birding and eventually ended up at a small pond in the outskirts of the Black Dirt Region. As I scanned, I found some Greater White-fronted Geese and thought, great I found the seven!… but, I kept scanning and the pond was loaded with GWFGs! I put the word out, and Linda Scrima joined me and we had a total count of 26 individuals! It blew the previous high count for the county out of the water. But it gets better! Linda went directly to the original location and found 2 more individuals. And then, later in the afternoon, Jeanne Cimorelli and Curt McDermott had a count of 27! Jeanne followed up by going to the second location and got 2 more for a total of 29 Greater White-fronted Geese for the day! Incredible birding!