January 2026 – Orange Birding

Sunday Shots – Short-eared Owl Edition, 01/25/26

In the early days of this blog, I used to spend a fair amount of time observing and photographing Short-eared Owls (click here or here for examples). But in recent years, readers of the blog may have noticed that for the most part, I’ve stopped photographing SEOWs (other than the odd bird that I might run into from time to time). Back in the day, it was a peaceful endeavor for me, with very few other birders or photographers around. But things changed and all the owl hotspots became jammed with folks who also wanted to see and photograph the owls. This wasn’t for me, so I’ve mostly stayed away and turned my attention to other species. But, this Saturday evening I gave it another shot and went out to the Black Dirt Region to try for Short-eared Owls for the first time in a long while. I got lucky; the owls got up early and it made for excellent evening with plenty of action. There were a few other folks there as well, but it wasn’t loaded. It was an enjoyable evening, and I was happy to get my first decent SEOW shots in quite a while, but I don’t imagine I’ll get back into it like I was back in the day.

~Short-eared Owl in the Black Dirt Region, 01/24/26.~

~Northern Harrier in the Black Dirt Region, 01/24/26.~

Snowy Sunday Shots, 01/18/26

Well, it was certainly a snowy weekend, and I birded as the snow fell on both mornings. First thing Saturday morning I took a walk at Black Rock Forest. There is a feeder station there that was pretty active, particularly with modest sized flock of Purple Finches. Afterwards, I went to the Newburgh waterfront – visibility was terrible with the heavy snowfall, but it was still nice to be out and at the river – I was enjoying the different aesthetic of the day, where everything is just in shades of gray and white. I had only the three expected species of gulls in Newburgh, so I went over to Beacon, where I didn’t do any better, in fact I only had Ring-billed and American Herring Gulls.

~Ring-billed Gull at the Beacon Waterfront, 01/17/26.~

On Sunday morning I ventured out into the snow again. My initial target was the Ross’s Goose that had been reported this week at two locations in Warwick. I dipped on that bird, so I headed over to Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Winding Waters Trail to try for the Northern Shrike again. That bird has been very unreliable, and I had no luck again. Same as Saturday though, it was just nice to just be out in the weather and I enjoyed the few birds that I did find along the trail. Afterwards I car-birded in the black dirt for a while as I made my way home. It was nice to be out, but I didn’t have any birds of note.

~White-throated Sparrow taking off. Winding Waters Trail, 01/18/26.~

~White-throated Sparrow sitting in the snow at Winding Waters Trail, 01/18/26.~

~I had my first Great Blue Heron of 2026 at Memorial Park in Warwick this morning, 01/18/26.~

~In the field I thought this was a House Finch. Looking at the photo now, I’m thinking it’s likely a Purple Finch. Black Rock Forest on 01/17/26.~

Sunday Shots, 01/11/26

It was not a very exciting weekend of birding, but it was still quite enjoyable. The warm temperatures we’ve been experiencing melted nearly all the snow, which allowed me to walk some trails. On Saturday I went to Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge’s Winding Waters Trail. I failed to find my target bird of the day – Northern Shrike – which has been reported there in recent days. But it was a nice, birdy walk and I added (3) species to my 2026 Orange County list: Northern Flicker, Swamp Sparrow, and Pine Siskin.

~The bird of the day on Saturday 01/10/26 – I had plenty of American Trees Sparrow at Winding Waters Trail.

On Sunday, I hit the trails again, this time at Kenridge Farm in Cornwall (apparently now known as Outdoor Discovery Center. Again, it wasn’t exciting as much as it was pleasant and birdy enough to keep me interested. I added just a single new species to my OC year list – Purple Finch. Afterwards, I went to the Newburgh Waterfront; it was a little too early in the day for any good gull action, but I did find one Red-breasted Merganser among the many Common Mergansers currently on the river.

~Rough-legged Hawk in the black dirt on 01/10/26. I wonder if I’ll ever get another good photo op with one these birds – it’s been ages.

~American Tree Sparrow at Winding Waters Trail, 01/10/26.

Good Birding in the New Year, 01/04/26

I’ve had a pleasant and productive start to 2026. I was off work from Christmas through today, so it has been a nice break with a lot of birding.

New Year’s Day: I started the year off by taking care of some good birds in the black dirt. Birds of note included a couple of lingering Greater White-fronted Geese, Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, and a Lapland Longspur. A pleasant surprise was a young Peregrine Falcon. In the afternoon I went to Newburgh for gulls, but all the gulls were loafing across the river at the Beacon Waterfront. It was brutally cold over there, with the wind whipping in my face, but I was able to get the Glaucous Gull and 3 Iceland Gulls.

~Love, love, love this bird. Glaucous Gull on the ice at the Beacon Waterfront on 01/01/26.~

January 2nd: I went to Reservoir #3 first thing in the morning. My target bird was Red Crossbill, but I had no luck there. I did pick up a few good birds, however, including Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, and Golden-crowned Kinglet. On the way back I stopped by the Liberty Loop and added Rough-legged Hawk, American Tree Sparrow, and White-crowned Sparrows. On my way home I found 3 Snow Geese in a flock of Canada Geese.

~Young Peregrine Falcon cruises through in the black dirt, 01/01/26.~

January 3rd: I participated in another Christmas Bird Count, this time with Maria Loukeris. Our area included Port Jervis, so I was back in that area again. New birds for me that day included: Bald Eagle, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Bluebird, and a nice look at a Barred Owl.

~This was a nice surprise. Barred Owl in the area of Reservoir 3 in Port Jervis, 01/03/26.~

January 4th: I had an excellent morning at the Newburgh Waterfront. I caught up with the Glaucous and an Iceland Gull – this time in Orange County. I also got lucky with the continuing rare warblers at the Waterfront Trail – I saw both the Northern Yellow and the Orange-crowned on my first try – if you know my track record with warblers, you know this is a record.