In with the new….

Incoming Mallards - Newburgh Waterfront Trail - 1/1/26

When starting a new “year list”, everything is a new bird, so here are my first two Mallards of 2026. Mallards are often among the first-of-the-year birds as they are found on virtually all open bodies of water in the winter in our area. Often overlooked as a “trash” bird since they are so common here in the northeast, it’s nice to see then coming in for a landing and displaying their striking bright blue wing patches known as “Specula” bordered with bright white striping.

Song sparrow - Newburgh Waterfront Trail - 1/1/26

The Newburgh Waterfront Trail is not the most “up-scale” piece of real estate as the trail 2 foot wide swath is bordered by a chain-link fence surrounding the Newburg Sewage Treatment Plant on the western edge and a 10 - 15 patch of vegetation separating the path from the Hudson. Surprisingly, however, this narrow band of vegetation attracts a decent number of songbirds….even in the depths of winter. Today’s temperature was a chilly 24 degrees when I set out on my walk, and yet, here was a handsome Song sparrow picking his way alongside the trail in search of seeds and bugs.

Downy woodpecker - Newburgh Waterfront Trail - 1/1/26

It was not so surprising to find a Downy woodpecker in this chilly climate as they will be here all winter long. Their food (when not taking advantage of suet and Woodpecker seed blocks set out by bird admirers) largely consists of insects and many of the bugs they feed on are found just below the outer surface of the trees along the trail. This little lady was pecking away in search of her meal in spite of the fact that some of the workers and trail walkers had left a suet block hanging in the same tree win which she chose to go “old school”.

But what about that Song sparrow? Bugs not protected by a layer of bark in 24 degree temperatures? Well, the fact that the water treatment plant is in such close proximity to the trail means that there is relatively warm nutrient rich water very close by and this tends to attract an interesting assemblage of winter bugs and birds. I’ll soon be heading down to Florida where the temperatures will be in the mid 70s, and it will not surprise me to find warblers such as the Yellow, Nashville, and Orange-crowned at many of my birding venues down there. And to the surprise of many birders, those same warblers have been seen here at the Newburgh Sewage Treatment Plant over the past several winters with some regularity. Today, I was lucky enough to spot the Yellow warbler cruising through the riverside vegetation not far from the settling ponds of the plant.

Yellow warbler - Newburgh Waterfront Trail - 1/1/26

This is probably the earliest I’ve ever added a Yellow warbler to my year list and I was thrilled to do so. Strange to photograph this little beauty while bundled up with three layers of cold defeating garments and a nice wool cap. Within a weeks time, I may well be photographing some of thus guy’s cousins while attired in a golf shirt, shorts and sneakers. Birding is certainly an interesting pastime! So here we go on another year-long photographic adventure. Glad to have you all aboard. Let’s all enjoy a Happy and Healthy New Year!