Archived issues: May 28-June 2, 2008 May 21-27, 2008 May 14-20, 2008 May 6-13, 2008 May 1-6, 2008 April 23-30, 2008 April 16-22, 2008 April 7-15, 2008 April 1-7, 2008 March 25-March 31, 2008 March 19-March 26, 2008 March 12-March 20, 2008 March 5-March 11, 2008 February 27-March 4, 2008 February 20-26, 2008 February 13-20, 2008 February 4-12, 2008 January 28-February 4, 2008 January 22-28, 2008 January 14-21, 2008 January 8-14, 2008 January 1-7, 2008 December 23-31, 2007 December 13-17, 2007 December 4-12, 2007 November 28 - December 4, 2007

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HUDSON RIVER ALMANAC
May 28 - June 2, 2008
Compiled by Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program Naturalist New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

<<<<< OVERVIEW >>>>>

As you read the Almanac each week, you may notice an imbalance of entries between the upper and lower Hudson. While ecologists recognize that these are, in many ways, two distinct rivers, they are socially, biologically, and physically connected. The river that runs from the High Peaks to Troy is no less special than that which runs to the sea. We always hope that we will hear more stories from above tidewater. Please do not be bashful.

<<<<< HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK >>>>>

6/1 - Staatsburg, HRM 85: We checked out the Staatsburg red-shouldered hawk nest (see 4/22) this evening. The full foliage made getting a clear sighting difficult, but there is at least one large nestling present. We couldn't see any emergent feathers yet, just fluffy white down.
- Linda Lund, David Lund

<<<<< NATURAL HISTORY NOTES >>>>>

5/28 - Newcomb, HRM 302: I saw my first tiger swallowtail butterfly of the season today as it flitted across the yard, riding the wind and looking for flowers. The only flowers were dandelions, violets and eyebright, but nearby lilacs and ground cover phlox were blooming, so it probably found something. Bunchberry bracts were now open, I presumed the flowers were as well, and blueberries were blooming along the roadsides. Mike Tracy reported the first dragonfly of the season at the Adirondack Park Visitors Interpretive Center. According to Mike's wisdom, this should shortly spell doom for blackflies. We can only hope, because these pestilential insects are driving us all nuts!
- Ellen Rathbone

5/28 - Waterford to Lock 1, HRM 159-164.5: We traveled upriver on our weekly Adirondack Mountain Club paddle. These paddles are well attended. This night our "moderate speed" group had 25 paddlers and the "lily-dipper" group had 14. An immature bald eagle soared over the Hudson north of Waterford as we headed for the Lock 1 dam. This was a one-year-old, judging by the very dark body, and he was not alone in the thermals. A broad-winged hawk soared above him, making an occasional dive at the eagle. Showing great airmanship, we saw the eagle twice turn over neatly on his back to aim his talons at the stooping hawk. It would hesitate with talons up until the hawk passed by. The third time, the eagle did what a pilot would call a "slow roll" - a continuous roll to upside down and continuing smoothly in the same direction until right side up again. It was an impressive display of flying for a young bird.
- Alan Mapes

5/28 - Kowawese, HRM 59: A cold front came through, giving us a gorgeous sunny day with a strong north wind. The ebb tide dropped beyond its midday prediction and Cornwall Bay emptied in the mini-blowout, exposing scores of deadfalls among the sandbars. One of the adult bald eagles nesting nearby perched on a derelict tree trunk, the wind ruffling its head feathers, looking altogether at peace with the world.
- Tom Lake

5/29 - Schuylerville, HRM 186: With some trepidation, I eased my little red kayak into the water near the PCB warning sign that was prominently displayed at the Canal Park boat launch. What might I find in these new waters where I had never paddled? Things of glory: great blue herons, mergansers, orioles, mayflies, caddisflies, water pennies, common map turtles, pinskter flowers and bluets, moose maple, yellow darters and, for some reason, a bat out for an afternoon flyover. Things of glory near a scary sign.
- Fran Martino

5/29 - Highland, HRM 75.5: As I left my house, a buzzing near my entry door caught my attention. Honey bees were zinging in and out from behind my house siding. I had erected three Mason Bee houses in the hope they would pollinate my plants. No worry now.
- Vivian Yess Wadlin

5/29 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: Nine consecutive days with an empty eel net, coupled with warm water and neap tides, did nothing to boost my expectations. But as soon as you think you have wildlife behavior figured out, eels in particular, they humble you. I had an audience today, the Sound and Story Project of the Hudson River Valley, and the fates were kind. By the end of our spring sampling, eels appear in three phases: translucent, black, and yearlings (last year's glass eels). We had one of each. The two-inch translucent eel may have been in the estuary for a month, the same size but fully-pigmented black eel perhaps twice as long, and the four-inch elver at least a year. It is nice when nature cooperates.
- Tom Lake, Eileen McAdam

5/29 - Sandy Hook, NJ: The brant at Sandy Hook have dwindled down to nearly zero. This is their usual time to vacate for the long trip into the Arctic to breed. We will look for their return Columbus Day weekend. They have left the bay beaches and shallows to gulls, terns, herons, egrets, and a few black ducks.
- Dery Bennett

5/30 - Minerva, HRM 284: I was down in the swamp behind my house this evening and listened to the sounds around me. The American bittern was there (with that amazing plumbing call), as were lots of red-winged blackbirds, a couple of swamp sparrows, and scattered common yellowthroats. The blackflies were still an issue, though somewhat diminished, while the mosquitoes were waking up. It was still a tad too early for the bats, but they have returned to our attic, and would no doubt be heading the short distance west to our open wetland area to catch said tiny flying critters. As for wildflowers, painted trillium, goldthread, starflower, and chokeberry were out and about, always a pleasure.
- Mike Corey

5/30 - Saratoga County, HRM 170: My return to the Round Lake, Anthony Kill heron rookery (see 4/27) had good news and bad news. The good news is that all 13 nests were occupied with young, some with as many as three young heron being tended by the adults. The sad news is that there are patches of Eurasian water chestnut (Trapa natans) that I had not seen there last year. I yanked as much as I could fit into my little red kayak and disposed of it properly.
- Fran Martino

[I have come across viable water chestnut seeds in cornfields 20 miles from Hudson. These were almost certainly deposited by visiting waterfowl, ducks and geese that find the seeds caught in their leggings as they leave the river but manage to shed them as they stop to feed in ponds, lakes, and farmer's fields. It is a dispersal strategy that works well for the water chestnut, but not well for ecologists. Tom Lake.]

5/30 - Hyde Park, HRM 82: Heading down the path at the end of a busy day, with multiple school groups visiting us at the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt, I stopped to allow a "lengthy" resident of this National Park to cross slowly in front of me. It was a beautiful, shiny black rat snake. It appeared to be in no hurry at all, and I was content to wait and watch as it made its way toward the old Ice House. All five feet of the snake easily slid beneath the rock foundation of this old building.
- Ann Murray

5/30 - Beacon, HRM 61: The fishing from Long Dock was good. I caught and released a 16 lb, 1 oz carp and two others estimated at 8 lb. and 3 lb. This was also an opportunity to try some non-offset, circle hooks. I wasn't sure if carp feed in a fashion that would make circle hooks effective. But they did their usual "grab and run" resulting in solid hook-ups and easy releases.
- Bill Greene

5/30 - Beacon, HRM 60.5: We were looking under the rocks in the water with 4th graders from South Avenue School and, to our surprise, we found glass eels! One eel I caught had no pigment yet, just two red dots. Very exciting!
- Rebecca Houser

5/30 - Westchester County, HRM 27: As I drove north on the Saw Mill Parkway near Hawthorne I caught sight of a wheeling bird banking back and forth above the road. The sun shone on it, lighting its very distinct long, sharp wings which bore clearly defined white patches near the tip ends. The body of the bird was pale and rather slender, the tail straight and narrow. I looked as long as traffic allowed, then returned home to read this week's Hudson River Almanac with the reports of nighthawk sightings. Had I been lucky? I checked my bird book to find my description fit that of a nighthawk. Another first for me.
- Robin Fox

5/31 - Saw Kill, HRM 98.5: As we drove from the Bard College Field Station up the dirt road that runs along the Saw Kill, we saw a small creature crossing the road and stopped to check it out. It was a hellgrammite - a large, dark, elongate insect larva (dobsonfly) with a strong pair of mandibles. Several people we know have run afoul of these jaws. The larvae are aquatic and the adults are terrestrial, but they pupate in soil. This larva had crawled at least 100 feet uphill and across the road in order to find a suitable place to dig. We have dug them up by mistake while finding worms for bait, but this is the first time we had seen a hellgrammite this far from the water.
- Bob Schmidt, Kathy Schmidt

5/31 - Norrie Point, HRM 85: A lone snow goose was keeping company with immature Canada geese in the Norrie Point boat basin. I assumed it was an injured bird, but it flew off as we approached with a group of paddlers.
- Alan Mapes

5/31 - West Park, HRM 82: The beautiful home of moss and mud between our front door and the lamp was inhabited again this spring. Five eastern phoebes fledged from an extremely over-crowded nest on Memorial Day weekend. A seemingly exhausted mom and dad continued to feed the fledglings in nearby trees for at least three days. Just when it seemed time for a well deserved break, both mom and dad phoebes appeared to have instead chosen to refurbish the well-worn nest, perhaps considering a second brood. (That would match the time of initial creation and successful use of this nest by the pair last season, producing four fledglings.)
- Mike and Ann Murray

5/31 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: After 72 days it was the end of the sampling season, time to take the gear out. One last juvenile eel in the net, a little over two inches long, chocolate brown, fully pigmented, was a nice find. Still, this spring saw the fewest number of glass eels immigrating into the brook in six years of data collecting. From a highpoint in numbers three years ago, 2006 saw a 73% decline followed by 85% fewer this year. If a trend is there, it might be that we see a peak year followed by two steep declines. However, for a fish that has been on earth for millions of year, a six-year snapshot is not even the blink of an eye.
- Tom Lake

5/31 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: In early evening a line of strong thunderstorms swept across the Hudson from west to east. The river turned from hazel to leaden gray in a matter of seconds; the cyclonic wind churned and before long the Hudson was capped-over from bank-to-bank. Cottonwood seeds filled the air like a snowstorm. The rain did not arrive immediately, allowing time to lie back in the grass and watch the incredibly dynamic storm clouds. They crept over in three levels, the highest moving slowest, the lowest and darkest rolling over like they were caught in a whirlpool. The fringes of these spun away in all directions as lightning lit up their underbelly. At the height of the storm, like cannon shots, the wind snapped two nearby mature trees-of-heaven midway up their trucks. It was surreal. If this were Hollywood, an alien spacecraft would have tumbled down out of the swirling storm clouds.
- Tom Lake

6/1 - Hopewell Junction, HRM 68: An early evening walk on the Dutchess Rail Trail from Hopewell Junction to Lake Walton was filled with bird song, including the delightful trills of a wood thrush. We were hoping to see if the mute swan pair that had a nest in a Lake Walton cove two weeks before had been successful. After scanning the lake with binoculars we spotted the handsome pair carefully guarding 5 fuzzy gray cygnets far out on the lake. Despite the fact that these birds are not a native species, we enjoyed seeing the feathered and fuzzy family. When almost back to the entrance, we spotted a red fox with a mouthful, first crossing the trail one way, stopping, looking at us, turning back and looking some more. It was, no doubt, calculating its safety as it headed back across the trail into a field still holding a mouthful of something pinkish - too large to be a mouse, perhaps a baby opossum. It was great to see that the red fox population seems to be thriving in many locations in Hudson Valley.
- Carolyn Plage, Ed Connelly, and Chance Plage

TIDE
The tide comes back and forth,
Gently and strongly every day,
The water hits the shore,
Every minute, of every day, of every year.
It brings sand and takes sand.
It brings leaves and takes leaves.
It brings sticks and takes sticks.
Always to take and give back,
But never to keep.
- Anthony Bruno, 6th Grade, Vails Gate School

6/1 - Westchester County, HRM 34: In recent weeks I have seen a red fox on a trail above the Old Croton Aqueduct, in the first segment leading from the dam, and a coyote trotting along the base of the land fill on Croton Point. I hadn't seen either in years.
- Marguerite Pitts

6/1 - Scarborough Light, HRM 32: After the last Hudson River Almanac mentioned the teasing "promise" of an osprey nest at Scarborough Light, I decided to go look this morning. Sailing near, I saw a sizable pile of sticks below the #14 and the white navigation light, the kind of mess we associate with an osprey nest. Standing on its edge were two osprey, one larger than the other, the smaller occasionally giving the high osprey cry. Above the light, a third osprey circled, small fish in its talons. As I sailed closer, first one then the other spread big wings and left the pile of sticks. Soon, the two were harassing the third, swooping for its fish out over the Tappan Zee. Then all three spiraled up into a sky of white, charcoal and brilliant blue and disappeared from sight.
- Dan Wolff

6/2 - Catskill Creek, HRM 113: While paddling north on the Catskill Creek, I noticed an angry crow having an encounter with a turkey vulture overhead. The crow struck at the vulture with its feet, but the bigger bird was unfazed by the crow's attempt to shoo it away. The vulture turned on its wing, and landed on the shore where it joined a second vulture. Two vultures standing on the shore? Odd! I paddled a bit closer and saw through my binoculars that vulture #2 was eating an eel. Even odder! Both vultures sort of took turns, holding the eel with their feet while they pulled at their slippery meal. I guess the road cleanup crew has turned into shoreline cleanup crew.
- Fran Martino

6/2 - Saugerties Lighthouse, HRM 102: One of the guests at the Saugerties Lighthouse said he saw a black bear on the trail when he looked out the bedroom window this morning. He thought it might be a big dog at first until it stood up on its hind legs. I thought the same thing until I identified bear tracks in the wet sand on the trail near the dock in front of the lighthouse. Later, someone knocked at the door to report seeing the bear near the start of the trail. It was the wildlife photographer who visits regularly to photograph birds. He was so excited when he saw the bear that he forgot to take a picture. I received an e-mail message from Lauren and Tim, residents of Malden, the hamlet north of the lighthouse. While visiting the lighthouse yesterday, they spotted a bear on the shoreline across Esopus Creek between the jetty and the long dock. They reported seeing the same or a similar bear this morning walking through their back yard in Malden.
- Patrick Landewe

6/2- Kerhonkson, HRM 82: Although a bit early, as we do not usually see them until July, it was our first rattlesnake sighting of the season. The three-foot-long, golden-brown specimen was a fresh roadkill on Berme Road. The unfortunate reptile had been run over, and the rattle removed, presumably by the motorist. I notified Randy Stechert, the Rattlesnake Ranger. He took the data and advised us to either put the specimen in the freezer or give it a decent burial. I was tending toward the latter option but found this morning that the corpse had been removed by someone who needed it more than we did!
- Sarah Underhill

6/2 - Wappinger Creek, HRM 67.5: In the evening before the new moon, the ebb tide was extra low. A large snapping turtle had come ashore climbed a short embankment and was now slowly digging a hole with its hind legs. It would be dark soon and this female would lay a clutch of eggs in the hole, cover them up, and then return to the creek. All would be accomplished in a very slow, deliberate manner. Their success rate, however, is not good. Raccoons and skunks love turtle eggs and the scent the female leaves behind is unmistakable to these scavengers.
- Tom Lake

[In years past, I've had many middle-of-the-night "Jurassic Park" moments with huge snapping turtles in the beam of my headlamp. These were usually battles over possession of fish captured in research nets. The water, the night, the light, and their demeanor often combined to make them look the size of trash can covers. While 20-30 lb. snapping turtles are not uncommon, truly large ones can reach 40-50 lb with a carapace length of 18". Tom Lake.]

<<<<< SPRING 2008 NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS >>>>>

Norrie Point Environmental Center, Mills-Norrie State Park, Staatsburg [Dutchess County].
Information 845-889-4745, ext:105.
- June 14: 3:00-5:00 PM Fishin’ on the River! Seine netting, angling.
Equipment provided. Free

Tivoli Bays Talks: 1st Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 PM
Tivoli Bays Visitor Center [Dutchess County].
Handicapped accessible. Free. Information: 845-889-4745, x105.
- June 11: 4:00-5:00 PM Wild Wednesdays - Milli-Centipedes: Story hour with live animals.
- June 18: 4:00-5:00 PM Wild Wednesdays - Eels: Story hour with live animals.

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HUDSON RIVER ALMANAC
May 21 - 27, 2008
Compiled by Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program Naturalist New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

<<<<< OVERVIEW >>>>>

The presence of black flies, sultry days, and a real mix of rather unrelated stories are all good indications that spring is winding down and summer is not far off.

<<<<< HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK >>>>>

5/25 - Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 34: This morning as I was walking around a small pond I spied the adorable pointy whiskered face of a river otter staring at me from the water close to shore. We seemed equally curious until the otter realized I was accompanied by my dog (oblivious to its presence) and decided to submerge and leave.
- Norma Goldstein

<<<<< NATURAL HISTORY NOTES >>>>>

5/21 - Hamilton County, HRM 286: We were sitting in our plastic kayaks in the almost dry Indian River bed near the confluence with the Hudson River. We were waiting for the daily Indian River Dam water release to wash us down to the Class III white water stretch of the Upper Hudson Gorge. A young adult bald eagle flew overhead, close enough for us to hear his wing beat, enjoy the bright yellow beak, and spot a few remaining speckled feather patches on the underside of his wings. We guessed he was doing a "fishing commute" upstream from the Hudson to the Indian River lakes.
- Joe Hayes

5/21 - Beacon, HRM 61: My biggest carp yet at Long Dock: 18 lb. 4 oz., 32" long. And another that weighed 12 lb. 6 oz. The big one may be a hard act to follow, but the season is young. The bottom of the bay off the dock must be paved with golden shiners; I caught a couple of them as well, and the ones I didn't catch were busy stealing my bait most of the day.
- Bill Greene

5/21 - Fishkill, HRM 61: While sitting in my yard, enjoying the aroma of lily-of-the-valley wafting on the air, a pair of catbirds were busy searching for nesting materials. One of the catbirds attempted, unsuccessfully, to break apart some small twigs. The bird moved across the lawn nearer to me to seek out a "snake skin." The snake skin in question was a latex glove my wife had used to handle her potting soil and plants, but it had fallen off a table. After pecking at it a number of times, the bird relented since it could not break it apart or carry it off.
- Ed Spaeth

5/21 - Staten Island, New York City: I delighted in the raucous calls of yellow warblers, American redstarts, black-throated green warblers, Baltimore orioles, and red-eyed vireos, as they sifted through the almost mature, but still soft vegetation of a tiny Staten Island wood lot. Below the birds, below the beeches and oaks, below the shadblow now developing fruit, was a solitary pink lady's slipper orchid. Behind them all, a brand new mega supermarket.
- Dave Taft

5/22 - Newcomb, HRM 302: There I was, sitting at my desk at the Adirondack Park Visitors Interpretive Center, quietly working away, when "Whack!" - something hit the window. I peered out and saw a small warbler sitting on the ground looking all rumpled. I grabbed my "Bird Rescue Unit" (a cardboard box) and rushed out. I found it, scooped it up, placed it in the box with a roll of paper towel to hold it in place, and closed the lid. After an hour or so sitting on my desk, it started to bump around, so I knew it must have recovered. I took the box out on the back deck, opened the lid, and - zip - out it flew, a lovely magnolia warbler.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/22 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: The succession of the seasons had changed this tiny brook from an icy maelstrom in later winter to a shady, sultry stream in late spring. The icy pelting of March's sleet was now the insane buzzing of blackflies. The wool and down of winter was now t-shirt, shorts and sandals. Any observation effort that takes you to the same place over time has that reward. Pondering these profound realizations, I moved through a haze of gnats and a bouquet of honeysuckle and Dame's rocket to find that my glass eels nets were totally empty. While the research will continue through the end of the month, whatever determines when these tiny fish arrive from the sea has been turned off.
- Tom Lake

[One of the signs of the waning spring season is the appearance of Dame's rocket along the river and its tributaries. This non-native wildflower comes in white, pink, violet, and purple. Its wonderfully sweet fragrance accompanies me in late May as I make early morning checks of pots, traps, nets and other education and research collection gear. Tom Lake.]

5/22 - Town of Wappinger: Mama, one of the two mated bald eagles, was perched alongside the nest on a limb feeding on what might have been a catfish. While no other eagles were in sight, on two recent evenings three eagles were in the nest tree, two adults and one immature. The adults were the mated pair but the immature was a mystery. If the young bird was kin, it might have been one of two fledged in June 2006 from nest NY62A, 500 feet west of this new nest. With no nestlings to occupy the adults, they may not hang around as much as summer comes.
- Tom Lake

5/23 - Lexington, Greene County, HRM 122: We took an after-dinner walk along the edge of the forest that now covers Bearpen Mountain. From high up in the sugar maples and hickories we could hear, then see, a prairie warbler, then two rose-breasted grosbeaks, male and female, the female seeming to sing a softer version of the male's practiced song. When we stopped craning our necks and looked down, there was a male scarlet tanager on the ground just a few yards in front of us on the trail. He was slowly hopping and pecking, like a robin, but without the upright posture or the head cocking. We watched and watched. His rich red color seemed to glow. Finally we had our fill and, difficult as it was, walked away from a scarlet tanager in plain sight.
- Walter Havighurst

5/23 - Garrison, HRM 51: Taking a time out to bring my new granddaughter out to lay on a blanket in the grass for the first time, we were delighted to enjoy a bluebird, a ruby-throated hummingbird, and a pileated woodpecker. We also caught the antics of three squirrels hanging upside down, busily cutting off young branches atop a maple tree. Were they making nests?
- Kathleen Kourie

5/24 - Saugerties Lighthouse, HRM 102: I watched from the lighthouse dock this morning as an osprey (one of a pair) glided over the jetty carrying sticks in its talons. Wings flapping, it hovered momentarily over channel marker #93 and dropped the sticks on top. With each addition, a haphazard pile of sticks is gradually taking shape as a nest.
- Patrick Landewe

[For at least the last decade, we have been teased each spring by the promise of an osprey nest along Hudson River tidewater. As far as we know, none have been successful. Scarborough Light (HRM 32) in the Tappan Zee has been a favorite target. Other attempts have occurred in Haverstraw Bay as well as some locations just south of Albany. Tom Lake.]

5/24 - New Paltz, HRM 78: I saw a lovely olive-sided flycatcher and a black-billed cuckoo at the Shawangunk Grasslands this morning.
- Sharon Gambino

5/24 - New Paltz, HRM 78: I was very excited to see a pair of common nighthawks zooming around the sky above my backyard this evening. I have not seen night hawks in at least ten years. I used to see them regularly near the Mid-Hudson Bridge, as well. Why have they become so scarce?
- Sharon Gambino

[The disappearance of the nighthawk is a mystery to us all. Years ago they were a reliable sight and sound in our cities and villages. I used to take the kids to "downtown" Coxsackie to watch them. Every year they were regulars in Albany, Poughkeepsie, and Saratoga Springs. On August evenings, we'd look forward to flocks of them circling overhead as they migrated south. Not any more. I heard of only one report from Albany this year. No one seems to know why this is. It possibly could relate to the increase in common crows and fish crows in the urban scene. They might easily prey on the eggs or young. Another possibility is night lighting which is decimating the night flying insects, the main food for nighthawks. Rich Guthrie.]

5/24 - Town of Poughkeepsie, HRM 68.5: We went to Bowdoin Park to walk the trails and found ourselves taking a trip back in time. As we approached the point above the south rock shelter, we could hear the sound of drums and the singing of Native Americans from the fields below. At the lookout, in the tall dead tree, five turkey vultures were resting on the branches. As we came down onto the ball fields we encountered a wonderful gathering of Native people, dancing, and singing.
- Carolyn Plage, Ed Connelly and Chance Plage

[This Native American Indian Festival was organized by park naturalist Dave Beck. It was held on the park's soccer field, the very spot where an Algonquian Indian village stood as Henry Hudson arrived in 1609. To Native people, this is hallowed ground. The field was "destroyed," archaeologically speaking, during World War I when it was mined for sand. Giant conveyor belts carried glacial sands to barges waiting along the river. Local children were paid to stand by the side and pick off "arrowheads" for a nickel a piece. Many of them are now in a collection at the American Museum of Natural History. Tom Lake.]

5/25 - Town of Cortlandt, Westchester County, HRM 44: As we sat outside the last two nights, off in the distance we could hear the approaching calls of what we thought were Canada geese. But as they got closer, the honk became less defined and more of a muffled clack than that of Canadas. As they approached overhead last night, I pointed my flood light up in the air as the flock was just over the tree tops. There were hundreds of them and they were not Canada geese. They flew in a scattered pattern, not the tight V of Canadas. It took over a minute for each flock to pass over us - there were three waves within one hour and two the night before within twenty minutes. What were these birds?
- Bill Burns

[Quality, concise, detail-filled observations always help with identifications. Too often, fuzzy eye-witness accounts sound like UFO sightings. In this instance, the season, the calls, the flight pattern and night flight all point to these being brant, a small goose closely related to the Canada goose. Tom Lake.]

5/25 - Croton River, HRM 34: While hiking along the river trail of the Croton River, spotting the usual suspects of belted kingfishers, great blue herons, and double-crested cormorants, we noticed something different in our binoculars. These were not a pair mallards but a pair of common mergansers. We had never seen them here this late in spring, in this warm weather. They were very busy feeding; the male would barely lift his head for a second before he would re-submerge, feasting away.
- Scott Horecky, Kathy Sutherland

[Common mergansers are generally a winter visitor to Hudson tidewater, arriving in the lower estuary by mid-December.While they more regularly nest in New York's north country and Canada, the State Breeding Bird Atlas shows confirmed nesting records from eastern Dutchess County and Ulster County. Tom Lake, Steve Stanne.]

5/26 - Wappinger Creek, HRM 67.5: It seemed like cement blocks were dropping out of the sky along a mile reach of tidewater. Carp were spawning. There were explosions, eruptions here and there, as groups of 5-15 lb. carp rushed into the shallows to consummate their goal.
- Tom Lake

[For years there has been a legend of a Loch Ness-type "monster" in Lake Champlain that the locals have dubbed "Champ" There were photos and video, always grainy, of a long sinewy shape just below the surface of the lake, undulating in a serpentine manner suggesting the neck of a long-extinct plesiosaur. Twenty years ago, Dr. C.L. Smith of the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan investigated the claims and, after many hours of viewing photos and video footage, discovered that these "monsters" were simply huge congregations of large carp, climbing over each other in a spawning frenzy. Tom Lake.]

5/27 - Newcomb, HRM 302: At the edge of the High Peaks, our current spring bloomers are starflower, foamflower, witch-hobble, painted trillium, sessile-leaved bellwort. False Solomon's seal and Canada mayflower should be coming along soon, as should bunchberry, although I haven't seen any buds for that yet. The chokecherries are getting ready to open, too.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/27 -Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: They are appropriately named "chorus frogs." What seemed like hundreds of wood frogs were playing a concerto for much of the night in the trees next to my bedroom window. At first it was like listening to falling rain, very loud, but soothing. However, they were waking me up whenever they changed their chord. What a racket!
- Tom Lake

<<<<< SPRING 2008 NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS >>>>>

Norrie Point Environmental Center, Mills-Norrie State Park, Staatsburg [Dutchess County].
Information 845-889-4745, ext:105.
- June 14: 3:00-5:00 PM Fishin’ on the River! Seine netting, angling.
Equipment provided. Free

Tivoli Bays Talks: 1st Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 PM, Tivoli Bays Visitor Center [Dutchess County].
Handicapped accessible. Free.
Information: 845-889-4745, x105.
- June 5: Kayaking the Hudson River Valley, Shari Aber
- June 11: 4:00-5:00 PM Wild Wednesdays - Milli-Centipedes: Story hour with live animals.

<<<<< HUDSON RIVER MILES >>>>>

The Hudson is measured north from Hudson River Mile 0 at the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan. The George Washington Bridge is at HRM 12, the Tappan Zee 28, Bear Mountain 47, Beacon-Newburgh 62, Mid-Hudson 75, Kingston-Rhinecliff 95, Rip Van Winkle 114, and the Federal Dam at Troy, the head of tidewater, at 153. Entries from points east and west in the watershed reference the corresponding river mile on the mainstem.

---

HUDSON RIVER ALMANAC
May 14 - 20, 2008
Compiled by Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program Naturalist New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

<<<<< OVERVIEW >>>>>

By mid-May, spring seems to be catching its breath. The frenetic pace of April and early May - with flowers blooming, birds and fish migrating, and trees leafing out - has slowed. The morning songbird chorus continues as breeding hits its peak, largely unseen within the green walls of foliage.

<<<<< HIGHLIGHT OF A PREVIOUS WEEK >>>>>

5/11 - Esopus Meadows, HRM 87: Three of us headed to Esopus Meadows Lighthouse at 8:30 AM and saw several large flocks of birds flying high and heading north over the river. We didn't have binoculars, so we're not sure what the birds were. They seemed too small for Canada geese but too large for most types of ducks. One flock looked as if it could be cormorants, but another V was too neat and orderly for cormorants. Later, at the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge, I saw another large flock, in two intersecting WW formations, flying north over the bridge.
- Phyllis Marsteller

[I’m confident that they were brant, small geese. This is their time to move north and they do so in loosely organized flocks, somewhat resembling a very shallow V. Rich Guthrie.]

<<<<< NATURAL HISTORY NOTES >>>>>

5/14 - Norrie Point, HRM 85: We were doing some shoreline sampling with a boat shocker when we caught an unusual herring. The fish was 90 mm long, looked like an American shad, but had the jaw of a river herring. It turned out to be a blueback herring, but with a very deep body. We were reminded that some river herring probably do not leave the Hudson River, but stay and develop the body shape of a "landlocked" herring. There may not be many of these, but one pops up every once in a while.
We caught a substantial number of spottail shiners over sandy bottoms. While measuring them, we noticed that many had leeches on their fins. These are piscicolid leeches, parasitic juveniles with free-living adults, and appear as small light green leeches attached to fins. We preserved some of the spottails that died and, while preparing the specimens for the New York State Museum collection, counted 7 leeches on the caudal fin, two on the dorsal fin, one on each pectoral fin, and one on the left pelvic fin of a single spottail shiner. This appears to be a significant parasite load.
- Bob Schmidt, Dan Miller, Chris Bowser

5/14 - Fishkill, HRM 61: On a very pleasant afternoon, my wife and I were sitting in our yard enjoying the mild weather and the fragrance of our lilacs wafting on the air. Looking skyward, we spotted a turkey vulture circling overhead, then another, still more, until the kettle amounted to nine birds. My wife remarked, "It gives one an eerie feeling seeing that many vultures hovering overhead." Truthful as the statement was, however, we noted that we live on the side of a mountain with warm thermals providing for strong updrafts as we watched the vultures climb ever higher in the sky.
- Ed Spaeth

5/14 - Brooklyn, New York City: Due to a school bus reservation mishap my kindergarten-first grade class ended up in Brooklyn Bridge Park under the Manhattan Bridge instead of Floyd Bennett Field. Seining was challenging with rocks, bricks, and tires, all invisible underwater.
After several trials, we finally pulled up a small silver fish. It turned out to be a juvenile striped bass about 3 inches long. A good day was had by all and we returned to the school on the F train.
- Shino Tanikawa

[Even a single fish can provide a story for schoolchildren. At 3" long, this was a yearling striped bass, possibly born in the Hudson River last summer (small size suggest a late hatch). It may have spent its first winter along the inner pier areas of New York City where the water temperature can be slightly warmer than open water. In 5-7 years it may become a part of the annual spring spawning stock. However, 3" striped bass are like the jelly beans of the sea. Snack food. Everyone loves them. That little striped bass will have a long road to travel until it reaches a less vulnerable size. The odds of any one baby striped bass, as a newly hatched larvae, reaching adulthood, is a million to one. That is why millions of striped bass lay millions of eggs. It is necessary to replace Mom and Dad, and that is what reproduction of vertebrate life is all about. Tom Lake.]

5/15 - Moordener Kill, HRM 138.5: After seeing the normal assortment of birds - eagles, blue herons, peregrine falcons, swallows, geese, ducks, and cormorants - we were slowly cruising along the area by Winnie's Landing, just north of Henry Hudson Day Park, when we came upon a common loon. We were standing on the upper deck of the Dutch Apple Cruise boat with a science and a math teacher from Guilderland School District when we heard the distinctive call of a loon. At first, I thought it was one of the 8th grade students doing a masterful loon call, but then I heard it again. Then we spotted the loon floating along side the boat thirty-five feet away, moving with the current, heading south.
- Pat Van Alstyne

5/15 - Town of Athens, HRM 116: I was at Cohotate Preserve cleaning the field station in preparation for school groups visiting over the next few weeks. I was surprised to find the carcass of a sturgeon on the shoreline where we usually fish. It was approximately 30" long and somewhat decayed. Its eyes were gone and tail was partially removed, but the head and body were in pretty good shape. I attempted some identification based on the books that I have at the field station and I think it was a shortnose.
- Elizabeth LoGiudice

5/15 - Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 35: As the roar of my neighbors' lawn-mowers surround me, I am delighting in my own "lawn." First it was tiny anonymous white flowers, then spreads of spring beauties, violets of white, and several colors of blue. What a pretty salad they make! Now I step through early hawkweed, Robin's plantain, sweeps of buttercups, a mat of yellow cinquefoil and what looks like puddles: ajuga, blue, lavender, and purple. And amidst all these flowers, little red "blossoms," Japanese red maple seedlings thickly sprouting over the entire lawn. How can I mow?
- Robin Fox

[Many chic suburban lawns have become green mono-culture carpets devoid of the dandelions, daisies, buttercups, clover, and violets of my youth. Neighbors sneer at the "weedy lot" I call my front lawn. But when the breeze blows just right, tiny puffs go forth downwind from my yard carrying their promise of a technicolor tomorrow! Tom Lake.]

5/16 - Catskill, HRM 113: While they tend to get all the press, striped bass are not the only lure to Hudson River anglers. Walleye, up to 12 lb., have been taken all spring, mostly at night, in Catskill Creek.
- Tom Gentalen

5/16 - Saw Kill, HRM 98.5: As I waded in the mouth of the Saw Kill, I was pleased to see several "strings" of yellow perch eggs waving in the current. A few feet upstream I caught two 14" yellow perch on a spinner.
- Bob Schmidt

5/16 - Staten Island, New York City: Walking in a light drizzle along the course of a beautiful woodland creek on the south shore of Staten Island, I turned my attentions from plants to stones. Some significant plantings had been undertaken along the stream banks, but the banks had eroded, exposing beds of smoothed river stones proportionate to the tiny stream. One of slightly strange shape caught my eye and I picked up a flat, gray, half moon-shaped stone about 3" wide. Notches on either side seemed fitted for a human hand. Each time I tried to convince myself the stone was merely a stone, I looked at the perfectly beveled sides, and the incredibly fine edge, and replaced it in my pocket. Finally, curiosity made me show it to an archaeologist. Palming it, feeling its heft, inspecting the beveled edge under a hand lens, he identified it as a scraper, made of argillite, and of considerable age.
Perhaps 5,000, even 10,000 years ago, an ancient fellow Staten Islander squatted near this same stream side, perhaps in a drizzle like the one that wetted me, and carved this tool. And who could have guessed that many years later the stone would find another set of hands to appreciate its craft and feel its weight. The stone now has a second life on my desk, where I mull over park plans and wonder at its story.
- Dave Taft

5/17 - Tivoli Bays, HRM 100.5-98.5: Dan Miller and I did some boat shocking and set some herring nets in Stony Creek and the Saw Kill. Putting a small-mesh herring net in the Hudson is ordinarily a beacon that attracts white perch from miles away. This year we caught no white perch. Shocking turned up only one. Have white perch crashed or am I just lucky?
- Bob Schmidt

5/17 - Columbia County, HRM 104: The tall oaks and maples along the river were serving as way-stations for waves of newly arrived songbirds. Baltimore orioles were almost common today, flashing flame orange in the sunlight. Ecologist Aldo Leopold described the oriole’s flash as "like a burst of fire."
- Tom Lake, Christopher Letts, Andra Sramek, Susanne Lake, Barry Keegan

5/18 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: Recent rains had this small brook running again. The spring glass eel migration had slowed to a trickle, just a precious few, and all of them, no longer even translucent, appearing as tiny black threads.
- Tom Lake

5/18 - Croton River, HRM 34: Despite the raw weather, carp have begun to leap and cavort, the beginning of their spawning rituals. Anglers are taking striped bass to 25 lb., and there is a good deal of surprise that bluefish up to 10 lb. are mixed in with the bass. The Boyz at the Bridge were recollecting that in earlier times, bluefish were a September phenomenon.
- Christopher Letts

5/18 - Manhattan, New York City, HRM 2: Signs of spring in Manhattan.
At ten o'clock this morning at Hudson River Park on Harrison Street, 8 brant were sitting quietly on the water in the little cove between the back of Stuyvesant High School and Pier 25. In the plantings along West Street, salt-spray roses (Rosa rugosa) were in full bloom, as were the cat mints.
- Thomas Shoesmith

5/19 - Newcomb, HRM 302: On the road in early morning I saw two red foxes on the pavement, alive. I'm not sure what they were doing. As I approached, I could see something in the road that resolved into two foxes that parted and trotted off into the woods. About halfway to Tupper Lake, a bobcat crossed the road. I slowed down as it moseyed across, stopped, and looked back over its shoulder at me as I rolled past.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/19 - North Germantown, HRM 109: The overwhelming presence of striped bass in the Hudson River short-circuited the commercial shad season this spring. There are very few, if any, nets still in the water. While that may be good for the preservation of adult shad, their progeny will face many of the same predators this summer and fall when they try to exit the river for the sea.
- Tom Lake

5/20 - Newcomb, HRM 302: Ir was a brisk day with fresh snow on the High Peaks this morning. A Baltimore oriole was in the yard as well. In the central part of the High Peaks, orioles have only put in an appearance for a year or so, and then only one or two birds, so this was rather exciting. Despite the ravages of the deer, two of my apple trees have buds. These are two that haven't had flowers before, so I am very excited.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/20 - Green Island, HRM 152: Just after 9:00 PM, the sky in the east took on a silver glow that precedes moon rise. The tide was halfway out and ebbing. A thousand dimples out on the river marked the presence of shad, river herring, and many other fish This was the night of the full moon in May, the Corn Planting Moon to many Native people. It was going to be a quick glimpse, however, as a thick gray cloud bank was poised just above the horizon to capture the moon. In the 500 years before Henry Hudson, the Mohican people were almost totally committed to horticulture: maize, squash, and later, beans. Their gardens and fields were often flood plains along the river, areas largely lost with the advent of the railroad in the early 19th century. Their season began in May, continued with the Green Corn ceremony in late August, and climaxed with the autumn harvest.
- Tom Lake

<<<<< SPRING 2008 NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS >>>>>

Norrie Point Environmental Center, Mills-Norrie State Park, Staatsburg [Dutchess County].
Information 845-889-4745, ext:105.
- June 14: 3:00-5:00 PM Fishin’ on the River! Seine netting, angling.
Equipment provided. Free

Tivoli Bays Talks: 1st Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 PM, Tivoli Bays Visitor Center [Dutchess County].
Handicapped accessible. Free.
Information: 845-889-4745, x105.
- June 5: Kayaking the Hudson River Valley, Shari Aber

---

HUDSON RIVER ALMANAC
May 6 - 13, 2008
Compiled by Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program Naturalist New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

<<<<< OVERVIEW >>>>>

As the enjoyable aspects of the season reach the High Peaks of the Adirondacks, the entire watershed is bathed in the colors and scents of springtime. Nestlings are everywhere, from goslings to eagles to the new broods of songbirds hidden away in the foliage.

<<<<< HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK >>>>>

5/11 - Albany, HRM 145: It was Mother's Day and, appropriately, one of the best days of the spring. This was our 2nd annual shad bake for the Native American Institute, held within a near-forest of flowering trees in Corning Preserve. It took longer to set up this year as orioles singing in the flowering dogwoods provided just too much distraction. An eastern kingbird meted out some revenge as it harassed a crow over our slow-planking shad. Over 150 park-goers sampled our smoked, baked, and pickled shad, and watched traditional dances of the Hodensaunee. American shad have probably been the focus of such riverside springtime celebrations, as a part of native traditions, for many millennia.
- Tom Lake, Christopher Letts, Andra Sramek, Barry Keegan, Mariann Mantzouris

<<<<< NATURAL HISTORY NOTES >>>>>

5/6 - Troy, HRM 151.5: We decided to do our annual spring electro-fishing jaunt to the Poesten Kill in Troy where we sampled around the 1st Avenue bridge. It was nice to see a substantial river herring run in progress, 40-50 fish, and we could not see what was in the deep pool above the bridge. All the herring we caught were alewife (we have taken blueback herring there in past years). Along with the usual array of fishes (banded killifish, American eel, rock bass, smallmouth bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed) we caught two species worth mentioning: one fathead minnow, an exotic fish that seems to be spreading in the Hudson Valley from the Mohawk River, and a number of breeding male tessellated darters. Tessellated darters do not develop the gaudy colors that Midwestern and Southern darters are known for, and therefore we tend to overlook them. These individuals were very dark chocolate with jet black fins. The dorsal fins were speckled with black and chocolate. Their colors may be subtle but are very attractive.
- Bob Schmidt, Bryan Weatherwax

- Peaks To Palisades -
Tumbling down from the peaks to the bay
A Nation's great river wended its way.
Through gorges and riffles, past forests and fields
Nature's own highway and her bountiful yield.
Three hundred miles, She meanders along
Gaining in volume before emptying out
But never drawn dry, for you plainly can see
Twice in each day She's refreshed by the sea.
Sturgeon and stripers, herring and shad
Delectable oysters, all to be had
By hard-working folks off the sweat of their brows
Using methods and tools passed father to son.
Then despoiled by Man with filth and with waste,
Yet, somehow the Lady maintained her fine grace.
Reborn again, She still marches on
Enshrined and celebrated in a Pete Seeger song
The Hudson still flows in our hearts and our minds
Perhaps to continue 'til the end of all time.
- Jim Beemer

5/7 - Newcomb, HRM 302: This morning we discovered a deer carcass on our walk. I was off in my own thoughts and finally looked down to see a clump of deer hair, a clump about the size of a sandwich plate. As we looked around, there was more hair. Lots of hair, and finally the skull, spine and remaining ribs of the deer, all still attached. Hair was everywhere. A little further along, there was more hair, and another pile. I suspect coyotes were dashing off with parts of the deer and plucking and eating it in different locations.
The blackflies were out in swarms this morning with my school group at the Adirondack Park Visitors Interpretive Center. They did not seem to be biting yet. Our leaves are just starting to be visible, but mostly they are tiny and lots of leaf buds dominate the scene. No tree flowers yet, except the maple flowers which are all on the ground now. The lilacs are loaded with flower buds; it should be a good year for them.
- Ellen Rathbone, Toby Rathbone

5/7 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: Perhaps it was the new moon tides but there were 10 glass eels in the net this morning. That was as many as the previous 12 days combined. A few alewives fluttered upstream in the dying current, turning on their sides when they scooted through pools that were shallower than the fish were deep.
- Tom Lake

5/7 - Furnace Woods, HRM 38.5: The first fluffy goslings of the season made their appearance today with proud and watchful parents towering over them.
- Christopher Letts

5/8 - Newcomb, HRM 302: It was extremely humid this morning. Still, it seems to have brought the birds out of the woodwork! The yard was surrounded by songsters galore, most of which I couldn't identify. I can confirm the first ovenbird of the season and the rest were probably other warblers that I cannot identify, even if they are singing one at a time. I filled the feeders up this morning and the yard is full of birds. It's a happy thing.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/8 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: Under a dark, closed canopy of maples and ash, the drizzled humidity heightened every smell. It was a mixture of spring flowers, budding trees, decayed leaves, and that peculiar odor that marks fish are around. They were not glass eels - my net held none.
The blackflies were thick but did not seem to be biting; I suppose I’d find out later. The "flute players" added their voice to the woods this morning, mostly veerys, maybe a wood thrush. As I reset the net on its re-bar, I noticed among the pebbles and cobbles a "worked" piece of quartzite, the size of a grapefruit. The ends had been repeatedly battered and fractured. A prehistoric Indian hammerstone. Ah, if rocks could only talk.
- Tom Lake

- Of These Wet Rocks -
An anonymous waterfall stirs the sediment and pebbles of my curiosity as drizzle beads gather at the end of my nose, like the dew that adorns the corners of a jewelweed leaf.

The froth borne of these cascades bubble and flow like milk, which will soon give life to the Hudson.

Now, as the clouds devour the moon I stand, uncertainly invading the privacy of this bellowing wall of water.

I want to leave, to respect the time these rocks have away from kayakers and camera flashes. But my eyes remain glazed in this post-dusk lighting and my sneakers must be soled with concrete, because I cannot.

I'm rendered stoic and still by the question of: How am I supposed to stand and present myself in this place drunken with pale mystique?

I can't possibly attempt a: "Double hands on my hips, head purposefully left-leaning as if I'm waiting for something more." What more is there?

I wouldn’t dare try to strike an "arms folded across a puffed out chest, which may instinctually lead me to spit as if I'm some kind of washed up high-school ballplayer putting too much pressure on my son, chewing gum too loudly" Kind of stance.

Or should I stand at all?
Should I kneel slowly?
Or drop rapidly to my knees
in fanatical worship?

Perhaps I'll stand a bit longer legs spread lazily, shoulders shrugged in thankfulness with lips open, leaving me to inhale through my mouth the air that suggests, that maybe these wet rocks are as happy to view me in my ordinary posture, as I am to view them in all of their grace.
- Matt Caligiure, Constitution Marsh Sanctuary

5/9 - Hudson Valley: With at least 20 active bald eagles nests along Hudson tidewater, reports were coming in from observers who happen to see them when out on the river. Many have nestlings, some of which may be 6-7 weeks old. With plenty of food provided by the adults, the nestlings come of age pretty quickly. They are just an amazing sight, all gangly innocence as they discover their new world day-by-day.
- Tom Lake

Soft breezes, lilac bloom
heady, sweet.
Yellow swallowtail sips springtime!
- Robin Fox

5/11 - Highland, HRM 78: Mother's Day: I watched a scarlet tanager picking edible tidbits out of an old white mulberry tree on Mother's Day. Mason bees were making mud doors to protect their offspring in the houses we built for them.
- Vivian Yess Wadlin

5/11 - Beacon, HRM 60-61: With high tide and winds whipping up waves onto the shore, we turned north from Denning's Point onto the Riverside Trail. Just then a beautiful gray fox stepped out onto the old railroad tracks and, seeing us, froze. We froze too and locked eyes for at least 20 seconds before the fox turned tail and headed back into the woods. It was a beauty. Always wanting to increase the vocabulary of our pooch, we quietly told him "That's a FOX!"
- Carolyn Plage, Ed Connelly, Chance Plage

5/12 - Newcomb, HRM 302: A northern parula has been singing in the neighborhood for the last couple of days. And the cherry trees are starting to bloom.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/12 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: Ten days ago, a neighbor heard a scream coming from the edge of the woods next to his house. He and another neighbor shined a spotlight on the area and saw a bobcat standing in the grass at the edge of the treeline. It ran away. This morning at 4:30, a bobcat came slowly through the woods behind my house, occasionally letting out a "scream" that has been aptly called "piercing." As I lay in bed I was hoping that the foxes had their kits tucked safely in their den.
- Tom Lake

5/13 - Newcomb, HRM 302: Another moose miss! This evening Toby and I were headed toward the Pump House down on the Hudson for our "long" walk. En route, we passed a neighbor coming back. Just as I was about to ask him, "So, any moose signs down there?" he beat me to the punch by saying "There are moose tracks around the Pump House." We hurried along, I scoured the ground to find the tracks, and there they were. They pointed towards the trees but then vanished. There is a wetland on the other side of the trees, but we didn't see any signs down there either.
Upon further examination of the tracks, I decided they must have been a couple of days old. Still, this means there is a moose around somewhere in the area.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/13 - Norrie Point, HRM 85: We clearly saw a beaver paddling along in the river at Norrie Point today at noon. There were plenty of students and fishermen around, but the big rodent just kept swimming, diving, and staying a respectable distance as it warranted. The Indian Kill is puttering along - some days no glass eels, some days just a few.
- Chris Bowser

5/13 - Poughkeepsie, HRM 73: It seems early for fireflies, but there were some here tonight. It's not only early, but cool.
- John Mylod

5/13 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: I emulated one of ecologist Aldo Leopold's favorite practices this morning. With a mug of hot coffee I went out onto my deck just before first light and listened to the woods awaken. While it is true that a few birds seem to chirp all night, the rising crescendo of birdsong from just before dawn to sunup can be deafening. There really is a kind of a "roll call" each morning in May, as certain species come awake. The first change in the background cheeps came from several finches: goldfinches, house finches, purple finches. Then a couple of robins. Titmice. Cardinals. An oriole. Before long the veerys joined in adding their flutish song, and I could hear faraway crows. A pair of Canada geese flew over. From under the deck came a chipping sparrow. Once the entire ensemble was in full chorus, I could hear some repetitive and different off key notes - a mockingbird. The final song was a harsh call from a catbird. The show was over for this morning.
- Tom Lake

5/13 - Pine Bush, HRM 60: I could not believe my eyes: a male indigo bunting was feeding on the ground under my bird feeder. He hung around all day in the rhododendron bushes, flying in to feed and then returning to the relative safety of the leaves. In my many years of bird watching, I have never had the pleasure of this visitor. I took his picture and shared it with my high school English classes. What a treat for us all.
- B. Ganley

5/13 - Edgewater, NJ, HRM 8.5: I checked the fiddler crab colony today. The habitat that they have found so suitable and protected, judging from the several thousand occupying the catch basin of the Edgewater Commons Mall a few years ago, is almost a lost cause. There are maybe 100 holes today. The drastic reversal of fortune in this case is due, not to the wasteful or unthinking actions of their worst enemy, us, but to the inexorable force that comes with the simple passage of time known as succession. When first created, the catch basin was undoubtedly too deep. But as water flowed in with the tides from the fast moving river, silt dropped out of it as it slowed nearly to a stop. This action gradually filled the basin to an ideal level and fiddler crabs came and prospered, growing in numbers each year. Then it became shallow enough for common reed - Phragmites - to begin to grow, which trapped yet more silt and formed an island unsuitable for the crabs. Now the island occupies much of the northern end and their paradise is no more.
- Terry Milligan

[Terry Milligan has been keeping us apprised of the fiddler crab colonies at Edgewater since Volume VII (2001-2002) of the Hudson River Almanac. Tom Lake.]

5/13 - Navesink River, NJ: It was time to check out a report of a school of fish, maybe herring, crowded near the base of a dam in a small tributary of the Navesink River, a tributary of Raritan Bay. It turned out to be a dense school of Atlantic menhaden, or moss bunker, holding against the strong current of a spillway fed by a rain-swollen lake. The rivers here have been loaded with adult menhaden for about a month, ample food for the spring run of bluefish and striped bass. The locals call the bluefish "racers." They come into the estuary this time of year long, lean and mean, big head, thin body, but soon fatten up and leave. Menhaden do not run into freshwater to spawn; maybe they were attracted to the aerated water from the dam.
- Dery Bennett

<<<<< SPRING 2008 NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS >>>>>

Norrie Point Environmental Center, Mills-Norrie State Park, Staatsburg [Dutchess County].
Information 845-889-4745, ext:105.
- May 17: 3:00-5:00 PM Fishin’ on the River! Seine netting and angling. All equipment provided. Free.
- May 22: 7:00-8:30 PM The Mannahatta Project: Mapping Manhattan Island 400 years ago. Eric Sanderson

Tivoli Bays Talks: 1st Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 PM, Tivoli Bays Visitor Center [Dutchess County].
Handicapped accessible. Free. Information: 845-889-4745, x105.
- June 5: Kayaking the Hudson River Valley, Shari Aber

Spring 2008 Hudson River Shad Bakes
- May 18: 18th annual, Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson, NY, 1:00 PM. For information, call (212) 483-7667.

---

HUDSON RIVER ALMANAC
May 1 - 6, 2008
Compiled by Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program Naturalist New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

<<<<< OVERVIEW >>>>>

We all have our moments of spring. Being awakened early each morning by the "birdie, birdie, birdie" of cardinals is one of my favorites. Then there are hummingbirds. Why so many hummingbird reports in the Almanac?The length and breadth of their arrival, for many, is the purest sign of springtime. It is the type of signal that indicates warming weather, blooming flowers, and a delicate touch of wildlife.

<<<<< HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK >>>>>

5/5 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: Our first hummingbirds of the season:a male, a female, and one immature, showed up this evening. By 9:00 PM, it was too dark to see, but we could hear. A hundred feet away from the direction of the red fox den we heard a series of yips, several voices, short and thin, probably the four kits. There was no way to be sure, but it sounded like the nighttime exchange we hear when a mama coyote brings dinner back to her pups. These kits were very excited for a few seconds, then silence. Dinner time. - Tom Lake

<<<<< NATURAL HISTORY NOTES >>>>>

5/1 - Newcomb, HRM 302: I heard my first "zee-zee-zee zoo-zee" today: a black-throated green warbler.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/1 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: This tributary is a narrow rocky chute flowing over shale bedrock that slowly drops from the fall line about 500 feet inland from its mouth. Glass eels choosing this stream are greeted by a rather uninviting climb through a low bio-productivity brook. I often wonder why they choose this tiny tributary over hundreds of others. Since so many things about freshwater eels are cloaked in mystery, answers to our basic questions might come from the unexpected.In the uplands a mile to the southeast of its mouth is a large swamp that must be paradise to eels. Is there a signal in the brook's flow that tells them so?
- Tom Lake

5/1 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: We smoked our first shad today, truly labor-intensive, yet a labor of love. The smell of the wood smoke, the texture of the brined fillets, the golden finished product are all a part of springtime. This is year 24 for smoking in concert with our spring shad bakes along the Hudson. In the 1980s, we also smoked Atlantic sturgeon, possibly the best smoked product ever produced in the Hudson Valley. When legal, we also managed to smoke a few striped bass, arguably its best cooked form. Today, smoking produces a specialty food; in the times before refrigeration, including prehistory, smoking allowed the abundance of springtime protein from the sea to be stretched well into summer.
- Tom Lake

5/1 - Beacon, HRM 61: I saw my first chimney swifts of the season today, right about on time. Our house wrens also arrived and the gray tree frogs began their evening chorus. We have a piebald robin in our neighborhood with white primaries in the wings and tail. On a similar note, we saw a piebald red-tailed hawk last weekend near the Columbia County airport: the body was white with just a few dark scattered feathers contrasting against the brick-red tail.
- Stephen Seymour

5/1 Furnace Woods: We have had frost in northern Westchester County the past two nights. Yesterday the windshield wipers took care of it. This morning I had to scrape. I have begun to hear Baltimore orioles singing.
- Christopher Letts

5/2 - Newcomb, HRM 302: Jackie LaCourse reported a young moose in her yard on the edge of Newcomb. Jackie said that they had a female and her offspring there last year and suspects that this might be junior, now on his own.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/2 - Milan, HRM 90: My first ruby-throated hummingbird of the season, a male, arrived at my feeder. I hope we do not have another sub freezing night. Among the many gray squirrels at my feeder I have two that have red tails! A hybrid of a red and a gray squirrel?
- Marty Otter

5/2 - Ulster Park, HRM 87: Our first hummingbird of the season!
- Bill Drakert

5/2 - Hunter’s Brook, HRM 67.5: There was a soft white glow along the river and the tributaries, shadbush and flowering dogwood. Our Roy C. Ketcham students found an empty net today as the presence of glass eels has dropped to zero.
- Samantha Deger, Kayla Rath, Tom Lake

5/2 - Croton River, HRM 34: Midge Taube kindly gave me a striped bass he had caught on rod and reel to use in my spring "funny fish"elementary school programs. The 26" female was heavy with ripe eggs, and was caught far up the Croton River. Was she wandering, part of a spawning aggregation, or chasing alewives?
- Christopher Letts

5/2 - Sandy Hook, NJ: Our killdeer hatched and fledged (mama taught them the 50 yard dash) four young today from her nest in a parking field surrounded by buildings, tour buses, and yelling school children. All chicks were doing fine.
- Dery Bennett

5/3 - Newcomb, HRM 302: Lorraine Miga and I saw our first great blue heron of the season wing its way across route 28N to land in a small vegetation-filled pond to look for an afternoon snack. This pond is intermittently tended by beavers. They haven't been there for a while, so the vegetation is taking over. Still, with the recent rains the water level is high enough to support a meal for a heron and paddling for a trio of male mallards. We also saw a pine marten dash across the Blue Ridge Road in front of us. It was a lovely reddish brown with black legs and a dark tail. It was also in a hurry, so we only caught a glimpse of it as it bolted back into the woods.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/3/1907 - Red Hook, HRM 91: Excerpted from the Red Hook Journal:"Eleven crates of German carp weighing a thousand pounds, were shipped from Saugerties to New York last week. The fish were caught in the lower [Esopus] creek, which teems with them. The fishermen find ready sale in the New York market for all they catch."
- Maynard Ham

[PCB contamination has made commercial capture and sale of the Hudson's abundant carp illegal today. Steve Stanne.]

5/3 - Pleasant Valley, HRM 84: I heard the song of house wrens that return every spring to the fruit trees in my side yard, They were singing away this morning despite chilly 40 degree F air temperatures and a drizzly rain. Yesterday I saw and heard my first catbird of the season in wooded thickets, "meowing" rather loudly. They are now joining the calls of the many cardinals, song sparrows and red-winged blackbirds that have already been singing for weeks, waking me up at 5:00 AM each morning.
- Kathy Kraft

5/3 - Pine Bush, HRM 60: My first hummingbird of spring came to the feeder this morning. I had filled it last week and noticed the nectar was gone. I thought it had leaked because I hadn't seen a hummingbird.As soon as I refilled it this morning, there it was. What a pleasure on such a gray, dreary, cold morning!
- B. Ganley

5/3 - Manhattan, HRM 12.5: Well over 500 people jammed into a corner of Inwood Park in northern Manhattan for our 16th annual Hudson River Foundation shad bake. All enjoyed a sample of smoked, baked, and pickled shad.
- Christopher Letts, Dave Taft, Jasper Fox, Tom Lake

5/3 - Staten Island, New York City: We are seeing turkey vultures every day. Today, three circled the Fort Wadsworth park's administrative building, a scene too suggestive for comment.
- Dave Taft

5/4 - Newcomb, HRM 302: Shadbush is blooming 90 miles south of us, but not yet up our way. Every time I think I see one, it turns out to be a tree with fuzzy catkins instead of white blossoms.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/4 - Gardiner, HRM 73: We had our first yellow warbler and Baltimore oriole of the season show up, admiring the blooming flowers on our apple tree.
- Rebecca Houser, Brian Houser

5/4 - Alpine, NJ, HRM 18: This was our 22nd annual shad bake in northern New Jersey, a state that shares the Hudson River with New York.We cooked and served in the shadow of the Palisades as osprey and eagles fished out in the river.
- Tom Lake, Jasper Fox, Christopher Letts

[The Hudson River shad bake has its origins in colonial times. Other than keeping a wary eye for British vessels, commercial fishing was hardly disrupted by the American Revolution. Europeans were introduced to shad by the Algonquian people who lived along the river. For many millennia they had been celebrating the fish’s annual return - the predictability of resources was very important in prehistory. Native Americans baked shad and other fish on huge riverside roasting platforms, some of which were a half-acre in size. Fires, hot coals and cobbles were set around flat rocks upon which shad were placed for slow cooking and smoking. We have always wondered if they saw this as a festive occasion, with song and dance and laughter. How could they not?Our modern shad bake serves a dual purpose: we celebrate the fish and we hope to reconnect people to the river. Tom Lake.]

5/4 - Putnam Valley, HRM 55.5: Our first ruby-throated hummingbird of the season arrived. We had recently put out the feeders and today a single male showed up. They are a little late; we usually see them about the first of May.
- Martin Turner

5/4 - Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 35: Our first hummingbird visit of the season. The lovely little bit of shiny green appeared where a fuschia basket and the feeder hang all summer. Although there's no basket there yet, I hung the feeder from the hook. A "welcome home!"
- Robin Fox

5/4 - Sandy Hook, NJ: We did our first seining in Sandy Hook Bay this morning and landed one solitary fish, but an interesting one: a 20 mm-long juvenile bluefish, probably hatched offshore in the Atlantic within the past three weeks and able to make it inshore to spend its formative months in the estuary. Other finds: hermit crab, Asian shore crab, isopods, and sand shrimp. The water temperature was in the low 50s.
- Dery Bennett

5/5 - Mohawk River, HRM 159: In a wetland north of Niskayuna Road, painted turtles dived from logs, a muskrat lodge, and a submerged trash can at my approach from the adjacent bike path. Basking near them on the can was a turtle whose shape distinguished it from the painted turtles.I suspected an illegally released, non-native, red-eared slider. After a perilous wetland balancing act, I got close enough to the now submerged slider for my sturdy butterfly net to serve as more than a wading staff.As I help this turtle find a suitable home and hope she isn't carrying eggs, I will help the NYSDEC add relevant information about her to the Herp Atlas Database.
- Ken Blanchard

[Information on the New York State Herpetological Atlas for turtles can be found on DEC’s website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7140.html]

5/5 - Poughkeepsie, HRM 76: I helped our Poughkeepsie High School students check the fyke net in the Fall Kill this afternoon. We got 77 glass eels and 13 elvers. The creek was 57 degrees F. About a dozen alewives were resting and enjoying the lee of our net. A beautiful thing to see.
- Chris Bowser

5/5 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: New moon, old story: no glass eels. In research, results are not to be taken personally - no data is still data. Things brightened considerably when I saw my first oriole of the spring perched on the limb of a box elder bending over the brook.
- Tom Lake

5/5 - Bronx, New York City: Searching for plants in Pelham Park, I was greeted by a pair of brilliant Baltimore orioles feeding on an oak branch at the park's entrance. It was much better than any flowery entrance sign!
- Dave Taft

5/6 - Newcomb, HRM 302: I was thinking of hummingbirds this morning as I came down the walkway to the main building of the Adirondack Park Visitors Interpretive Center. Our hummingbird garden was still mostly under snow (a 3-foot pile remaining from what slid off the roof). It isn't melting any too quickly, but warmer days are on the way, so it will be a race to see which happens first: the hummers arriving or the snow disappearing.
There were many birds at my feeders this morning. A red-breasted nuthatch took over a peanut feeder seconds after I had it up and didn't even care that I was standing a foot away. Red-winged blackbirds, a blue jay, assorted sparrows, purple finches, and probably a goldfinch were lurking in the trees. I heard cardinals singing, and saw a broad-winged hawk. The peepers were in full voice last evening. It is amazing what a little sunlight and warmth will do.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/6 - Goodnow Flow, HRM 295: Amy Freiman reported hummingbirds at her house.
- Ellen Rathbone

5/6 - Columbia County: The road to the river was lined with apply blossoms and lilacs in bloom.
- Tom Lake

5/6 - North Germantown, HRM 109: Most of us only get snapshots, snippets of a larger tableau. But an entire day on the river plays out like a theatrical performance: eagles and osprey, cormorants and kingfishers, musical songbirds, shad, bass, catfish, and the human element of fishermen and boats, all arrayed against a backdrop of tides, currents, and weather systems moving east off the Catskills.
Double-crested cormorants have taken over the two light towers in the reach where we drifted our shad nets, off Silver Point to the south and Greene Point to the north. The Silver Point tower had 30 birds and eight nests, close together on each corner of the structure's cross-beams. The Greene Point tower had fewer birds, only four nests, but we saw a couple of nestlings.
The fishing was slow but on a few occasions the shad came up in the net in threes, "bananas." This is an expression that has its origin 50 years or more ago, when Henry Gourdine of Ossining shad-fished in the Tappan Zee. When the run was heavy and the nets were filled with fish, Henry would haul a short section of gillnet into the boat and exclaim, "they’re coming in bunches, just like bananas!" The river was 53 degrees F.
At one time or other, we had 5 bald eagles in sight. Two of them were adults. Near sundown we had two immatures low overhead engaged in extended aerial playtime. We saw one osprey for the day, but we did hear at least one other. There is something grand about tidewater, that is until I head up into the mountains and then I say the same thing about the smell of balsam fir and the faraway vistas.
- Tom Lake, Bud Tschudin, John Mylod

5/6 - Constitution Marsh Sanctuary, HRM 53.4: The water was calm as I launched my canoe from Foundry Cove into Constitution Marsh. A great blue heron greeted me, a few pairs of nesting Canada geese did their best to hide along the shoreline, and turkey vultures circled above. I spotted an osprey flying overhead and paddled past a few more geese noisily defending their unseen, but assuredly nearby, nests. The paddle to the south end of the marsh was quiet until I found myself in the midst of carp doing their "spring fling" prelude to spawning. As I continued on the unobstructed serpentine water trail a huge snapping turtle lumbered out of a shallow pool and onto a fallen tree to bask. I stopped at Jim’s Walk [a boardwalk named in honor of former Audubon warden, Jim Rod] and saw bald eagles riding the thermals. Red-winged blackbirds-a-plenty were fluttering about and wild turkeys could be heard gobbling away in the woods. Another fine paddle.
- Carl Steiniger

<<<<< REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON DIAMONDBACK TERRAPINS >>>>>

If you see any diamondback terrapins this spring, please report the where and when and other particulars to biorlb@hofstra.edu They might be basking on shorelines or on projections, floating at the surface, or swimming along. Whatever and wherever, I'd like to know. Thanks. Russell Burke, Hofstra University, Department of Biology

<<<<< SPRING 2008 NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS >>>>>

Norrie Point Environmental Center, Mills-Norrie State Park, Staatsburg [Dutchess County].
Information 845-889-4745, ext:105.
Fishin’ on the River! Seine netting and angling. All equipment provided. Free.
- May 17: 3:00-5:00 PM

Tivoli Bays Talks: 1st Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 PM, Tivoli Bays Visitor Center [Dutchess County].
Handicapped accessible. Free. Information: 845-889-4745, x105.
- June 5: Kayaking the Hudson River Valley, Shari Aber

Spring 2008 Hudson River Shad Bakes
- May 18: 18th annual, Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson, NY, 1:00 PM.
For information, call (212) 483-7667.

<<<<< HUDSON RIVER MILES >>>>>

The Hudson is measured north from Hudson River Mile 0 at the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan. The George Washington Bridge is at HRM 12, the Tappan Zee 28, Bear Mountain 47, Beacon-Newburgh 62, Mid-Hudson 75, Kingston-Rhinecliff 95, Rip Van Winkle 114, and the Federal Dam at Troy, the head of tidewater, at 153. Entries from points east and west in the watershed reference the corresponding river mile on the mainstem.

---

HUDSON RIVER ALMANAC
April 23 - 30, 2008
Compiled by Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program Naturalist New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

<<<<< OVERVIEW >>>>>

Every spring, without fail, as though it's required, we comment that "spring is early" or "spring is late." These perceptions are based on averages, many of which are purely anecdotal in our memories. But it seems no matter how early or late spring arrives, by May the season has caught up with itself. With global warming and climate change on most people's minds, however, even small deviations are magnified. Having said all that, I feel compelled to mention that the spring flowers sure seemed to bloom early this year!

<<<<< HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK >>>>>

4/25 - Saugerties, HRM 102: Yesterday, after walking around our wetland pond to see if mama Canada goose's goslings had hatched, my eye caught a large slow-moving form in the alder thicket not fifteen feet away. It was a gorgeous American bittern! As it slowly and somewhat awkwardly moved through the thicket, it repeatedly croaked a harsh staccato call that seemed odd in the face of a potential threat. Today, after some searching, I managed to spot it again, motionless, head pointed toward the sky, in the nearby tussock sedges. Several years ago we saw one on and off for two weeks here in the same tussocks and were hopeful it would nest, but it was apparently just passing through.
- Dan Marazita

<<<<< NATURAL HISTORY NOTES >>>>>

4/23 - Newcomb, HRM 302: I joined biologist Stacy McNulty at the Adirondack Ecological Center on a search for spotted salamanders. It was supposed to be rainy, but the stars were out. We hiked to two vernal pools near Arbutus Lake and scanned the water with our head lamps. There were several masses of wood frog eggs, which - thanks to the lack of rain - were starting to emerge from the ponds. We were able to scoop 2 spotted salamanders in a net so we got a good look at them with their shiny black skin, sides blushed with blue, and backs speckled with bright yellow dots. Several more were floating in the water. Adult wood frogs were out as well, silently suspended at the surface of the water.
We even saw two in mating embrace, the small grayer male grasping the larger, pinker female. As we moved to the second pool, wood frogs and a few peepers started to call in the first pool - the trauma of our presence having passed. While not as exciting as a salamander migration, it was still a great experience to be out in the woods at night taking a peak at the private lives of our native amphibians. We were also treated to the distant calling of a barred owl.
- Ellen Rathbone

4/23 - Norrie Point, HRM 85: It was the end of the academic semester and the beginning of another great seining season on the Hudson, so my Marist College students and I took a field trip to Norrie Point. As soon as we got there we noticed a pair of furry mammals swimming in the cove, frequently diving, arching their backs as they did so, with no tail slaps at all. I think they were river otters. We seined at two hours after high tide. For most of the students, it was their first time in waders, and no one was disappointed. Our catch included golden and spottail shiners, tessellated darters (several of them gravid with eggs), white perch, yellow perch, a few small American eels, banded killifish, several river herring, and a 16" white catfish. One of the herring had a distinct fresh wound on its back. Perhaps a near miss with an otter?
- Chris Bowser, Beth Roessler

4/23 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: Students from Randolph School had the opportunity to assist in a moment of research. Fyke nets set for eels are an easy and efficient collection method. At low tide the stream is usually behaving itself, and the net is quickly checked and reset. Today we had 6 glass eels that had fully transformed from their fresh-from-the-ocean transparency of a month ago to a bright translucency. They will continue gaining pigmentation all summer until by fall they will look like miniature brown and yellow adult eels.
- Goldy Safirstein, Chris Iverson, Tom Lake

4/23 - Town of Wappinger: As far as we can tell, the eagle pair in the new nest along the river (NY62B) are not incubating eggs this spring, or any longer if they had been. With no solid tie to the nest, they are less likely to put up with intrusion, so approaching the area to monitor behavior has to be done in a stealthy manner or they will leave. A spotting scope allows us to "get close" while still hundreds of feet away. They know you are there, but you have not stepped inside their "alert" distance, let alone their flight distance. Over time you establish, at least in my mind, a compromise separation of mutual tolerance. This morning there was one big white head sitting down in the nest. It was the female and it was anyone's guess as to why she was there. It is possible that there are eggs in the nest that will never hatch and, at the risk of sounding anthropomorphic, sitting there allowed her a measure of comfort.
- Tom Lake

4/23 - Sandy Hook, NJ: This is the height of coastal spring migration of raptors, and Sandy Hook concentrates them before they make the cross-water hop to New York and Long Island. Falcons cross the water without hesitation and accipiters are pretty much the same. But the buteos, great fans of thermals, come up to the tip of the Hook and the ocean (no thermals over water), then hang around soaring for a bit before heading back south till they find solid land to continue their northern voyage. Least happy with over-the-water flying are the turkey vultures and today 15 of them came up to the end of the Hook and spent at least an hour bobbing in the air before heading south to go west to head back north over land.
- Dery Bennett

4/24 - Newcomb, HRM 302: I heard my first common loon this afternoon, although our seasonal, Mary Tisi, reported hearing one earlier this week.
- Ellen Rathbone

4/24 - Town of Wappinger: We hoped to see some encouraging activity but neither adult eagle was in sight at the new nest, NY62B. The nest tree was quickly acquiring its spring allotment of poison ivy, the bane of tree-climbers. We'd have to deal with that and soon. The tree's new tulip-shaped leaves had grown to where we could clearly see the connection to its common name. A horizontal limb just below the nest had been a feeding perch for the pair; we noted two long, fresh cuts where the bark had been scraped off. It may also have been the result of "beak-cleaning," often a post-meal activity.
- Pete Nye, Tom Lake

4/24 - Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 35: Shadbush - a.k.a. shad blow, juneberry, sarvisberry (serviceberry) - was blooming along the shores of the Croton Reservoir. In my yard, brilliant yellow goldfinches clustered amidst the pinky, lavender blossoms of the azalea.
- Robin Fox

4/25 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: I was admiring our flowering dogwood in bloom, by all accounts a week or more early, when I spotted a brilliant orange red fox twenty feet beyond in the background, lazily lounging on a small hill of dirt in our woods. We had recognized this dirt hill, a former woodchuck colony, as a potential fox den in late winter as we saw sporadic activity in the area.
- Tom Lake

4/25 - Beacon, HRM 61: The "Big Carp" showed up today at Long Dock, the largest of which was 17 lb., 32" long, and 22" in girth. I estimated two others to be in the 5-8 lb. All were measured and released. I lost two more due to hook pulls, as I was trying to move them away from the rocks. I also caught a 9" golden shiner, solving the mystery of what was stealing my bait. Anglers at the end of the dock were catching bullheads, channel catfish, and small striped bass. A dozen sportfishing boats arrived after noon, drifting and trolling in the channel for striped bass.
- Bill Greene

4/25 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: Thirteen days without rain had reduced the brook to a trickle on low tide. The few remaining shallow pools appeared glassy in the darkness of midnight. Every few minutes I heard and saw an eruption as a half-dozen alewives rushed into a riffle in a spawning commotion.
- Tom Lake

4/25 - Newcomb, HRM 302: Toby Rathbone and I saw our first mockingbird of spring this morning and down the road the first forsythia was starting to bloom. While out in my yard I saw in my peripheral vision a long, skinny white thing floating across the grass and through thefence: an ermine. Poor thing was still totally white, which was the only reason I was able to see it. It looked like someone had tied a string to a white hankie and was dragging it across the lawn.
- Ellen Rathbone

[Ermine is the common name for the winter white phase of the short-tailed weasel. Like many boreal species, being white where winters are snowy is an adaptation that provides an element of camouflage. As spring arrives, the fur of the short-tailed weasel turns a tawny brown, perfect for the dark understory of the forest floor. Tom Lake.]

4/26 - Minerva, HRM 284: It was a wonderful evening: the air was nearly65 degrees F and the peepers were shrill, almost deafening. The American bittern was back in the swamp, with its cool call that sounds like plumbing about to give up the ghost. I also heard the very strong and amazing song of a frisky hermit thrush in the woods. Yellow-rumped warblers, winter wrens, and brown creepers are back, with their pretty, unmistakable songs (I never actually saw them). Our early spring exotic "wildflower," coltsfoot, blooming along the road. Some early trillium is up, but too early for blooms.
- Mike Corey

4/26 - Norrie Point, HRM 85: We had an all-day parade of biodiversity at the Norrie Point Environmental Center today. This morning an angler caught a 39" striped bass. Nearby along the Indian Kill, we have a net specially designed to catch juvenile American eels. It is regularly checked by students from the Dutchess Academy of Environmental Science during the week. On the weekends, Kingston volunteers Katrina Gagnon and John Miller take over. This afternoon, we found 10 glass eels in the fyke net, along with an older eel (elver) and a beautiful leech. The leech was roughly 2" long, though it's hard to really tell. It looked just like the size and type I've often seen on the undersides of snapping turtles.
The main event of the day centered around the monthly "FishinÂ’ the River" program offered by the Hudson River Research Reserve and NYSDEC's "I Fish NY" program. We estimate about 200 people participated throughout the afternoon, both seining and angling for fish and learning about Hudson River ecology firsthand. White perch were the major catch on rod and reel, while the seine brought up a diverse assortment of white perch, yellow perch, bullhead catfish, tessellated darters, spottail shiners, banded killifish, pumpkinseeds, and a fourspine stickleback.
- Chris Bowser, Mark Vangorden, Ryan Coulter, Katrina Gagnon, John Miller

4/26 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: It was now 14 days without rain and fish migration had all but ceased. Whatever alewives had been here had left. The pools were empty - no white suckers, white perch, or carp.Glass eels were scarce. The magic riverward flow of spring rains that seems to urge the fish upstream was missing.
- Tom Lake

4/26 - Furnace Woods, HRM 38.5: Everything seems earlier this year. A few years ago lilac and dogwood were a mid-May treat. Both were in full bloom now.
- Christopher Letts

4/26 - Yonkers, HRM 18: I spotted a savannah sparrow today at the Beczak Environmental Center. I saw a pair there last week, maybe three altogether.
- Jeff Weber

4/27 - Newcomb, HRM 302: We finally got some rain last night (0.14"), first in along time. With it came our first worms on the roads this morning.
- Ellen Rathbone

4/27- Minerva, HRM 284: Shadbush was in bloom, about ten days early in an average year, along the Olmstedville to Pottersville road. Over the last 15 years, blooming has ranged from April 20 to May 19 with the average of about May 6.
- Mike Corey

4/27 - Saratoga County, HRM 170: I was eager to take a look at the Round Lake, Anthony Kill heron rookery this year. My visit was about a month earlier than last year. The sad news is that we've lost 8 nests, but the good news is that the remaining 13 are all being gently tended by the adult great blue herons.
- Fran Martino

4/27 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: We had been seeing the male red fox, a brilliant orange with black legs, sitting on top of the dirt hill they have modeled into a den. This morning, the reddish-gray female, was out with her three kits, each no larger than a house cat. They are reddish-gray like their mother, and adorable. Like a combination puppy-kitten, they played up and down the dirt hill finding toys in the twigs, branches, sticks, and each otherÂ’s tails.
- Tom Lake

4/27 - HunterÂ’s Brook, HRM 67.5: ... and on the fifteenth day it rained! By the time it ended we would have over an inch and a half.Because it was a gentle rain, one that Native Americans would call a "female rain," the land had a chance to absorb much if it. Still the brook ran and strong and clear. It would take a while for the wildlife to respond; I did not expect to see an increase in fish migration for a few days.
- Tom Lake

4/28 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: Lilacs were showing serious color. It is an odd year when the parade of spring flowers have all bloomed before the first of May.
- Tom Lake

4/29 - Poughkeepsie, HRM 76: The heavy rain exiting the Fall Kill took its toll on our eel fyke net, bending the supporting re-bar in all sorts of directions and pulling the net up taught. We decided to leave the net out for the night, even at the cost of a night's hole in our data. On the bright side, the net seemed fine, we caught 14 glass eels, and everybody pulled together safely and in good humor.
- Chris Bowser

4/29 - Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 35: My house is at the edge of woods, with an arm of the Croton Reservoir out front. I know there are coyotes around. For years I've heard them, seen their tracks, and caught glimpses of them. But I always hoped to see a fox. I see the tracks in the snow but never a live animal. Yesterday, right in the middle of the daffodils, was a beautiful red fox. It stood, posed, sniffing the air, occasionally pawing the ground. It had delicate black legs, black tipped ears, and a wonderful bushy tail. The perfect fox! It trotted a few steps, plopped down to unceremoniously scratch dog-style. Then, it faded into the brown, leafy undergrowth of the woods. What a treat!
- Robin Fox

4/29 - Furnace Brook, HRM 38.5: Yesterday our "Furnace Brook team" put their eel fyke back in the brook for a week of sampling. They noted a high flow rate and debris all over the place from the rain. Today, they found 49 glass eels, 8 of which weighed a whopping 2.2 grams!
- Chris Bowser

4/29 - Sandy Hook, NJ: Flocks of double-crested cormorants, more than 500, fewer than 1000, flew up the spine of the Hook this noon on their way north. Usually we see them strung out over the water; these were in patches about 300 feet high.
- Dery Bennett

4/30 - Newcomb, HRM 302: It was snowing, fair-sized flakes, and depressing! Like so many drops of scarlet blood, the fallen maple flowers lay scattered on the pavement.
- Ellen Rathbone

4/30 - Delmar, HRM 142: The past week has seen air temperatures in the 70s and 80s at the Five Rivers Environmental Education center. During reptile training for our volunteers, the painted turtles put on a real show, basking on every log. I counted 24 on one log alone. Trout lily, shadbush and cherry were all blooming. Today summer left. It's in the low 40's with snow flurries between breaks of sun.
- Dee Strnisa

4/30 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: Each year we try to figure out what motivates these two-inch glass eels to ascend waterways they have never seen before. We mull over the moon and its pull, rain and riverflow, and the likely possibility that we are drawing from a dwindling population.
Students from Roy C. Ketcham High School collected 5 glass eels today, a number that may be significant, if we only knew what it meant.
- Tom Lake, Jon Tokarc, Jeremy Patton

4/30 - Town of Wappinger: Dutchess Community College student Angela Anderson had never seen an eagle in the wild. In recent days we had stalked NY62B in the shadow of the tall tuliptree several times but no one was home. Today Mama was sitting in the nest and Papa was perched on an adjacent limb. In the context of the smaller nest (compared their six-year-old original, NY62A) they appeared enormous.
- Tom Lake

<<<<< SPRING 2008 NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS >>>>>

Norrie Point Environmental Center, Mills-Norrie State Park, Staatsburg [Dutchess County]. Information 845-889-4745, ext:105.
FishinÂ’ on the River! Seine netting and angling. All equipment provided. Free.
- May 17: 3:00-5:00 PM

Tivoli Bays Talks: 1st Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 PM, Tivoli Bays Visitor Center [Dutchess County].
Handicapped accessible. Free. Information: 845-889-4745, x105.
- May 1: Life on the Edge: Small Mammals in Hudson Tidal Wetlands, Cathy McGlynn

Spring 2008 Hudson River Shad Bakes

• May 3: 16th annual, Inwood Park, Manhattan, NYC 1:00 PM.
• May 4: 22nd annual, Alpine Boat Basin, Palisades Interstate Park, Alpine, NJ 1:00 PM.
• May 10: 21st annual, Riverfront Park, Nyack, NY, 1:00 PM.
• May 11: 2nd annual, Erasmus Corning Park, Albany, NY, 1:00 PM.
• May 18: 18th annual, Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson, NY, 1:00 PM.

For information, call (212) 483-7667.

---

HUDSON RIVER ALMANAC
April 16 - 22, 2008
Compiled by Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program Naturalist New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

<<<<< OVERVIEW >>>>>

The "greening" of the Hudson Valley occurs like a wave, slowly moving up the watershed in April as tree leaves and grasses begin to backlight the emerging flowers. The steady spread of color from the yellow forsythia to the stark white of cherries is like a light going on along the river. Shadbush and flowering dogwood are close behind.

<<<<< HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK >>>>>

4/16 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: Our red fox family continues to delight. Today Mama was sitting next to the tool shed under which she has her nest. I commented to her from my back door that she must have beautiful little pups. Scarcely a minute later 2 tiny fox kits trotted out from under the shed. In a week or two, once the young are fully weaned, the female will probably move the den to another location
- Diane Lowry

<<<<< NATURAL HISTORY NOTES >>>>>

4/16 - Furnace Woods, HRM 38.5: Our forsythia was in full bloom now, pickerel frogs were calling, and yet there was frost on the windshield.At dawn the air temperature was 23 degrees F. As temperatures rise, even at 50 degrees, black flies have become ferocious. Yard work will be a bloody business this week. Coincident events just about every year: the flowering cherries break into bloom, and the first barn swallows return to Pine Lake.
- Christopher Letts

4/16 - Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 35: On a warm and breezy day, the spicebush in our woods burst into blossom.
- Robin Fox

4/16 - Hudson River Estuary: The NYSDEC Hudson River Fisheries Unit has resumed its annual tracking of sonic tagged adult Atlantic sturgeon.These fish spend the first few years of their life in the river where they were born, then move out to ocean waters where they spend most of their life. Once mature (about 10 years old for males, 15-20 for females), they return to fresh water in their natal river in late spring through early summer to spawn.
Last year our remote receiver, anchored in the river near Hastings-on-Hudson [HRM 21.5], indicated that a few fish showed up early and were missed by our mobile boat tracking crew. This year we started early to listen for any fish on their way into the Hudson to spawn. To our surprise and delight, "Minerva McGonagall," a 7.5 foot female Atlantic sturgeon, was found in the river on April 8. (Note: Atlantic sturgeon tagged in 2006 were christened with names of Harry Pottercharacters.) She stayed near Stony Point [HRM 40] at the upper end of Haverstraw Bay for nearly a week. She has now begun to move with the tide into the lower Hudson Highlands.
Minerva was tagged with a long term [5 year] sonic tag near Roger's Point [HRM 82], just north of Poughkeepsie. The objective of the program is to identify Atlantic sturgeon spawning areas and gain insight into their behavior and habitat preferences during their spawning run.
The long term tags will also confirm how often males and females spawn.
- Amanda Higgs

4/17 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: I consider the ornamental magnolia tree to be the new "shadbush" in the Mid-Hudson reach of the river. The true shadbush, a native species, has been, at least colloquially in some areas on the East Coast, considered a harbinger of shad arriving in estuaries. However, in the last several decades, either shadbush is blooming later, shad are arriving earlier, or our observations are becoming more precise. The bright, beautiful, and immensely fragrant magnolia was in full bloom today. As it began to show color a week or more ago, the first shad were nosing up the river.
- Tom Lake

4/17 - Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 35: This morning I went out with my second cup of coffee to look for the newest "spring-thing." The slowly greening lawn was dotted with very tiny composite flowers - more a bunch of pin-head sized white dots than flowers. But, they carpeted much of the still-brown lawn. I looked, hoping, at the area where I expect the spring beauties to flower. There was nothing showing. But just now, in late afternoon, I went out to look again and to my delight, there theywere: the first spring beauty blossoms trembling in the breeze!
- Robin Fox

4/18 - New Paltz, HRM 78: I travel on Route 32 each morning and feel fortunate to enjoy a wonderful sight. Along the way I often pass wild turkeys, at least 15, both toms and hens. I guess the toms know it's spring because they strut about with their beautiful tails fully open for all the hens to admire.
- Gail Logan

4/18 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: Another day without rain; the brook level was dropping and the flow decreasing. Students from Dutchess Community College and Roy C. Ketcham High School helped with the eel net. Even with the stronger tides of the full moon approaching, our count was only 10. A dead male white sucker drifted slowly downstream.
These fish ascend freshwater streams in spring to spawn, a dangerous activity in shallow water. Predators. This one had a huge chunk ripped from its back. With no talon marks from an eagle or osprey, we guessed it might have been a lost fox or coyote lunch.
- Angela Anderson, Kathryn Goerge, Kayla Rath, Tom Lake

4/18 - Beacon, HRM 61: During an enjoyable seven-hour session in the great weather on Long Dock, I caught and released 4 carp, all decent size, the largest of which weighed 8 lb. 6 oz. The carp were occasionally rolling at the surface. Anglers at the end of the pier were catching small striped bass, white perch, and an occasional brown bullhead.
- Bill Greene

4/18 - Furnace Woods, HRM 38.5: We dined on the fruits of the newseason: shad roe, dandelion crown and mustard greens salad, and rhubarb pie. Finest kind!
- Christopher Letts

4/18 - Sandy Hook, NJ: Hard clam season in the Navesink River runs out the end of this month so we hit the low tide around noon today to build up a small backlog. The clam bed showed signs of wearing thin; it's been pounded since November 1. But we landed our share accompanied by the soothing mutterings of brant and the incessant, raucous chatter of oystercatchers arguing over mates and territory.
- Dery Bennett

4/19 - Newcomb, HRM 302: We hit 80 degrees F today, in a shady spot!Somehow 80s in April in the Adirondacks just isn't right. So much for spring. The river was back up, though. It had crested earlier in the week and was going down, but the abnormally hot weather over the last two days did a number on the snow pack in the High Peaks, resulting in a flush of water downstream. Meanwhile, "spring" is bursting out all over.
At 1:30 AM wood frogs were "quacking," I heard peepers this afternoon, and the toads have been trilling for the last three nights. I don't recall ever hearing them this early, and certainly not before the frogs.
I saw a merlin this morning, a killdeer has been around for a couple of days, and I heard my first woodcock "peent" as well.
- Ellen Rathbone

4/19 - Minerva, HRM 284: I heard my first peepers and scattered wood frog calls tonight. The open water area in the swamp near my house is still pretty much iced in, although the small ditches and associated pools away from the swamp are open. We have many male red-winged blackbirds acting territorially. A phoebe made itself known to me today- a first for the year. We still have around 18" of snow in the woods behind the house, despite the 78 degree weather. Snow is melting fast.
- Mike Corey

4/19 - Stony Creek, HRM 100.5: I was walking along the path to Stony Creek with the intention of setting herring nets. It was great to see blooming bloodroot and a huge patch of blooming dogtooth violets (a.k.a.troutlilies). I had a stand off with an American toad on the path and saw a great butterfly (probably a comma, but I have trouble telling them from question marks on the wing). There was also my first snake of the season, a very rusty colored garter snake in the mouth of the Saw Kill.
Later I managed to intercept a small run of male yellow perch (210-240 mm) in the mouth of the Saw Kill.
- Bob Schmidt

4/19 - Norrie Point, HRM 85: Through binoculars from the NYSDEC Environmental Center patio, I found an osprey flying wide circles west of Esopus Island until an adult bald eagle zoomed into view and "attacked" the osprey. There was a brief scuffle, then a short acrobatic "dogfight" with circling loops, and dives, until the osprey flew downriver and the eagle landed in a large pine on the west shore.
Shortly the osprey returned and made several looping passes in front of the perched eagle, then finally gave up.
- Dave Lindemann

[Eagles and ospreys often have a very contentious relationship along tidewater.Osprey, the great "fish hawk," are the equal of an eagle at fishing. Bald eagles, however, have a tendency to be lazy. They are noted for their in-flight pirating of fish caught by osprey with harassing, body-bumping, talon-raking, and feather-scattering intimidation maneuvers designed to force the osprey to give up the catch. Tom Lake.]

4/19 - Poughkeepsie, HRM 76: Craig Hoover, a student at Dutchess Community College, and his father, Skip Hoover, a teacher at Kreiger Elementary, found a whopping 84 glass eels in the fyke net set up on the Fall Kill. That's the record for that site this season.
- Chris Bowser

4/19 - Town of Wappinger: It is looking bleak for the production of nestlings from the NY62 nests this spring. After five successful season of fledging eaglets this may be the pair's second barren year in a row.
The male brought a fish to the new nest (NY62B) this week, ordinarily a sign that there is a third mouth to feed. But the fish, a gizzard shad, was never offered to the nest and was instead eaten on a nearby feeding perch. At dawn this morning both adults were at the new nest, but neither were inside. They perched side-by-side on a limb a few feet away.
- Tom Lake

4/19 - Furnace Brook, RM 38.5. Ossining High School students Laura Hellmich and Dara Illowski, along with their mothers, Heidi and Susan, and their teacher Valerie Holmes, sampled glass eels for three days around this month's full moon. After the first full day and night, they found 101 glass eels in their fyke net. The water was a warm 68 degrees F. They are setting the nets as part of a high school research project to see what kind of environmental factors, such as lunar cycles, affect glass eel numbers in their local tributary.
- Chris Bowser

4/19 - Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 35: Spied the first bloodroot blossom in the garden today. I expect the deer will spy it next. I also picked my first batch of fiddlehead ferns for supper!
- Robin Fox

4/20 - Newcomb, HRM 302: A heard a hermit thrush last night! Presently, a winter wren is singing its little heart out outside my office window at the Adirondack Park Visitors Interpretive Center.
- Ellen Rathbone

4/20 - Minerva, HRM 284: I heard one solitary, lonely little peeper in the back end of the swamp behind our house this evening. Still no wood frogs. I'm wondering if their population is sinking everywhere? I recall hearing none, or few of them, last year. While standing and musing, I did hear "peenting" and twittering coming from sky; although I couldn't actually see the woodcock, I knew it was there. Song sparrows were out and about, robins were noisily hanging out in the woods, and one wood duck was desperately seeking open water.
- Mike Corey

4/20 - Columbia County, HRM 118: I was standing in my yard when I heard an unmistakable sound: our yellow-bellied sapsucker had returned and was pounding on my metal 911 sign.
- Bob Schmidt

4/20 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: After two days in the 80s, the air today was more April-like - in the 60s. Glass eel and elver numbers in the net continued to be unpredictable. Discovering what motivates them to swim upstream is still elusive after six years of paying attention.
Out in Wappinger Creek, the carp were beginning their spring behavior of rolling and splashing, mostly tied into spawning. Carp are a nonnative species of minnow, meaning that Colonial Americans did not witness these often stunning performances.
- Tom Lake

4/20 - Furnace Brook, RM 38.5: On the second day of their sampling, Ossining High School students Laura Hellmich and Dara Illowski found 48 glass eels in their fyke net. The water temperature had fallen 9 degrees F in 24 hours, an amazing number that underlines the resiliency of these fish. As the students worked, 2 bald eagles circled overhead.
- Chris Bowser

4/20 - Furnace Woods, HRM 38.5: Where two barn swallows flew four days ago, three dozen now dipped and soared, mingling with tree and rough-winged swallows. We hope their appetite for the wicked black flies is sharp.
- Christopher Letts

4/20 - Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 35: A female eastern towhee came to the bird feeder several times this afternoon. What a pretty bird and a first for me.
- Robin Fox

4/21 - East Fishkill, HRM 61: As we passed a semi-truck heading west this evening on I-84, we saw, ever so briefly in the glare of our headlights, a lone coyote on the highway median. Upon arriving home, we listened to a neighbor's message on our answering machine alerting us to the presence of coyotes heard in our nearby woods and suggesting that we not let our cat outdoors.
- Ed Spaeth, Merrill Spaeth

4/21 - Staatsburg, HRM 85: I went up the road to check on the resident kestrels. As I got there, the male flew up from the ground to a telephone wire with a small snake in his talons. It was 6-8 inches-long, still alive, but too far away to identify. The kestrel put the snake's head in his mouth and slurped it down like a piece of spaghetti.
- David Lund

4/21 - Furnace Woods, HRM 38.5: Tulips and redbud were flowering and shadbush was finally in full bloom.
- Christopher Letts

4/22 - Staatsburg, HRM 85: The red shouldered hawks are definitely nesting. One or the other of them has been more-or-less constantly on the nest since April 11. When I go by, there's always a head or a tail sticking out over the edge of the nest.
- David Lund

4/22 - Highland, HRM 76: Most people know wood ducks nest in hollow trees, using cavities carved by pileated woodpeckers. But have you ever seen them just perched in a tree for no particular reason? Such was the case as I was walking my dog in the early morning hours. We had just passed our mailbox and the silhouette of two large birds in a red oak caught my attention. I took a closer look and saw it was a mated pair of wood ducks perched on a pair of limbs 30 feet above the ground. I live a half-mile from Black Creek and have seen them on a large vernal pool in wet springs. But this year being so dry, I guess they stopped in the tree to wonder "what happened to our summer home?"
- Jim Beemer

4/22 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: Students from Randolph School combined their 15 minutes of volunteer river herring observation with a check of our eel fyke. We counted 13 glass eels and noted that at least half of them were beginning to show some darker pigment, an adaptation that we think is linked to their switch from ocean to estuarine habitat. A few of them resembled tiny black threads, a major change from the near transparency of a month ago.
- Tom Lake

4/22 - Sandy Hook, NJ -The shad bush is blooming here, about on schedule. We have had strong onshore winds the past few days, keeping the temperature about 15 degrees F cooler than inland.
- Pam Carlsen

[Since 1994, shadbush bloom dates for Sandy Hook have ranged from 4/8 to 4/28, with an average date of the third week in April. Tom Lake.]

<<<<< SPRING 2008 NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS >>>>>

Norrie Point Environmental Center, Mills-Norrie State Park, Staatsburg [Dutchess County]. Information 845-889-4745, ext:105.
FishinÂ’ on the River! Seine netting and angling. All equipment provided. Free.
- May 17: 3:00-5:00 PM

Tivoli Bays Talks: 1st Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 PM, Tivoli Bays Visitor Center [Dutchess County].
Handicapped accessible. Free. Information: 845-889-4745, x105.
- May 1: Life on the Edge: Small Mammals in Hudson Tidal Wetlands, Cathy McGlynn

Spring 2008 Hudson River Shad Bakes

• May 3: 16th annual, Inwood Park, Manhattan, NYC 1:00 PM.
• May 4: 22nd annual, Alpine Boat Basin, Palisades Interstate Park, Alpine, NJ 1:00 PM.
• May 10: 21st annual, Riverfront Park, Nyack, NY, 1:00 PM.
• May 11: 2nd annual, Erasmus Corning Park, Albany, NY, 1:00 PM.
• May 18: 18th annual, Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson, NY, 1:00 PM.

For information, call (212) 483-7667.

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HUDSON RIVER ALMANAC
April 7 - 15, 2008
Compiled by Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program Naturalist New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

<<<<< OVERVIEW >>>>>

The spring cascade of colors has begun: forsythia to magnolia to shadbush. This will continue in the weeks ahead to dogwood, lilac, and many others. It is one of the best ways to measure the northward and upward advance of spring from the coast to the High Peaks of the Adirondacks.

<<<<< HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK >>>>>

4/9 - Hunter's Brook, HRM 67.5: On a gorgeous afternoon with a perfect tide and gentle stream flow, students from Randolph School had the opportunity to assist in