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.

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.

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.

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.