My last walk of 2024 was on Monday, and the first walk of 2025 was this morning. New Year’s Eve was rain and sleet all day, so I didn’t go for a walk anywhere. But I managed to take these two walks in Riverside, totally contrasting temperatures between Monday and today, and I swam my regular mile both days too.

I’m going with today’s photos first and then will look back at Monday. It was cold, cloudy and windy this morning. The first thing I noticed after getting out of my car was not a bird in sight, but the flag atop the Hofmann Tower at half mast for President Carter.

I didn’t see any birds until I got crossed the Joliet Avenue bridge with a man walking two dogs and started up the paved trail. That absence of birds included the river with absolutely no waterfowl. But soon I saw a White-breasted Nuthatch.

There was also a Black-capped Chickadee.

And as I continued to walk, one Canada Goose flew by.

There was a small group of 4 Canada Geese on the other side of the swinging bridge, along with the only 2 Mallards I saw this morning, but I didn’t bother to get much of a photo. Just as I crossed the swinging bridge, I encountered a small flock of European Starlings.

There were some Dark-eyed Juncos feeding on the ground, and a couple Northern Cardinals nearby.

And then, as soon as I walked onto the trail into Riverside Lawn, I flushed a Winter Wren. We exchanged looks.

Beyond that, I briefly saw a ruffled Red-bellied Woodpecker

More Starlings…

Back at the Hofmann Tower, the pigeons had just come in to roost.

And then I saw some Canada Geese in the river across from the tower. I counted them carefully. I haven’t seen any dead waterfowl, but reports of die-offs from the avian flu H5N1 are definitely hard to ignore.

Two days earlier, on December 30, we were warmer. I saw a Great Blue Heron fly by as I started to walk the paved trail, but did not capture it until much later. First, I paid attention to a Downy Woodpecker.

There was a small group of Canada Geese on the river.

As I started walking around the bend behind the library, I spotted an American Goldfinch

Then I had a close look at a Brown Creeper.

But with not very many birds to look at, the landscape captured my attention.

As I walked through Riverside Lawn, I saw no birds until I noticed the Great Blue Heron across the river near where I had walked earlier.

As I kept walking, I managed a closer look.

Shadows played with a large fallen tree that has spanned the trail for years.

I caught two more photos of the Great Blue Heron.

And that was it for Monday.

Here’s one more of the female Northern Cardinal this morning.

We are going to be in the Deep Freeze for several days. I will continue to walk and take photos with gloves on, but I will also be relying on a backlog of photos from last year. Happy New Year.