Eagles on ice…
Young Bald eagle - Newburgh Bay - 1/8/26
Well better late than never. And in all honesty, this is rather early for the Hudson to covered in ice from shore to shore here at Newburgh Bay. As we all hoped, with the ice comes the eagles from the north. Eagles feed heavily on fish, dead or alive, which it finds on open water. When the rivers, lakes, ponds, etc are all frozen solid as is the case up in the Adirondacks right now, there is precious little space for these birds to hunt for their next meal. And so, the birds head south down to the places where there is open water. When the ice from the north breaks up and comes floating south, it provides great platforms for the eagles to ride and still have areas of open water where fish can be found.
Bald eagle on ice - Newburgh Waterfront - 1/8/26
As can be seen above, in spite of all this ice, there are still expanses of open water in the Hudson here in the Highlands. This young eagle is getting ready to take flight and search that open water for a little sushi. This young bird is part of the leading edge of the seasonal influx of eagles. Today there were three eagles spotted on the ice. Two days ago, 9 eagles were spotted perched upon one such ice flow here in Newburgh. In the recent past, by late-January there are hundreds of Bald eagles all riding the ice in this stretch of the Hudson as it flows through the Highlands.
A Third Bald eagle on the ice at Newburgh - 1/8/26
It’s time for my wife and I to join many of the other migratory birds and head for warmer climes for the spring season. It’s always bitter sweet to leave this part of the country. New York is truly a winter wonderland and has so much to offer that it is hard to leave it behind. I feel very fortunate that the ice and the eagles make an appearance before we had to depart. Now it’s on to a totally different habitat and assemblage of wildlife. Next stop…Virginia!
