| OVERVIEW
This is the time of the season when the Hudson River reminds us of its length and breadth. At its headwaters, a mile above sea level, winter still held its icy, snowy grip. Yet 300 miles down steam, at sea level, spring flowers such as forsythia were blooming. Spring covers the entire watershed, south to north, at a slow, measured pace.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
4/5 – Ulster Park, HRM 78: The surprising April snow brought new morning visitors to our pond: two river otters. First, we saw the ripples, then an occasional head and tail. Then we saw them munching on fish, and one scampered along our boardwalk. It was a delightful start to the day.
– Peter Relson, Carol Anderson
NATURAL HISTORY ENTRIES
3/31 – Columbia County, HRM 109: Under bright blue skies this morning, we deployed our spotting scopes at the Lasher Memorial Park’s boat launch in North Germantown to monitor the comings and goings along the Hudson River. Two great cormorants were perched on the base of the “CB” navigation light (Upper Coal Beds Light). Although they were quite a distance away, the white throat and bill could be seen when the birds turned their heads. One of them also revealed the diagnostic white flank patch. Numerous double-crested cormorants were swimming, perched nearby, or flying upriver in small groups.
– Tom Williams, Colleen Williams (Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club)
3/31 – Millbrook, HRM 82: This morning I came into possession of a road-kill, white-tailed deer, so my friends and I hauled it to my upper field, and left the carcass in front of a trail camera tied to a lone apple tree. According to the camera video, crows arrived within two minutes, and a turkey vulture within twenty minutes. An immature bald eagle appeared in a big black cherry near the carcass within an hour, watched for ten minutes, and then dropped down for a bite. It stayed for a while but was spooked by a curious deer. After two-and-a-half hours, an adult bald eagle appeared, fed for 25 minutes, and then flew off. Turkey vultures were the only other visitors.
– Nelson D. Johnson
3/31 – Town of Poughkeepsie: This was incubation Day 39 at bald eagle nest NY372. We have not seen anything that indicates there has been a hatch, other than the adults staring down into the nest. We have watched for hours at a time and have not seen a fish delivery other than for the adults. We are keeping our fingers crossed.
– Dana Layton, Sheila Bogart
[We have seen this behavior, or similar, before, particularly at nest NY62. On two occasions at NY62, the adults were looking at an egg that did not hatch. The first time we did not notice it because there was a second nestling. But when we climbed the tree to band the nestling, we found the unhatched egg. The second time it was the only egg, and the adult stopped staring after a week or so. It is likely that the adults, especially the female, can sense when it is a lost egg. Tom Lake]
 3/31 – Beacon, HRM 61: After 24 years of carp fishing, including 13 years at Beacon, I landed my largest carp ever, 25 pounds, 9 ounces. Given the cold and changeable forecast, today seemed like a hole in the weather. Still, my expectations were modest when I began fishing, hoping that some of the bigger channel catfish might be stirring. My experience is that these larger, male catfish are the first to get active in the early spring. Across five hours I measured and released three channel catfish, each weighing 3-5 pounds. Then, as I was packing up to leave at dead low tide, the big carp hit. After a fifteen-minute struggle, I netted the big carp. After weighing the fish, I slipped it back into the river. (Photo of common carp courtesy of Tom Lake)
– Bill Greene
[A common carp (Cyprinus carpio) was the first fish I ever caught, at the age of nine, fishing the Delaware and Raritan Canal in New Jersey. It took a worm, and weighed about three pounds. Bill Greene]
3/31 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We checked our research sampling gear in the Hudson River Park three days this week at The River Project’s sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25. Each day we caught no fish but did collect a large number of grass shrimp, isopods, and mud crabs.
– Siddhartha Hayes
[“Grass shrimp” is a collective common name for three native species of small shrimp found in the salty and brackish waters of the estuary including; two species of shore shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio and P. vulgaris) and sand shrimp (Crangon septemspinosa). Another larger, but much less common, native shrimp in the Hudson River is the brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus). There is also an invasive species, the Oriental shrimp (Palaemon macrodactylus), native to estuaries and coastal Pacific Ocean waters of Russia, Japan, and South Korea. The “grass” reference comes from one of their preferred habitats: submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the estuarine shallows, colloquially referred to as “grass.” Tom Lake]
4/1 – Saratoga County, HRM 166: The wind blew the remaining ice far enough offshore at Ballston Lake to let me go kayaking. There were two pairs of common mergansers in the open water, and the wildlife was waiting for spring. A great blue heron was standing on the edge of the ice, and an osprey was perched in a nearby tree. The adult pair from bald eagle nest NY329 circled overhead, enjoying the lift from the windy afternoon.
– Christa Ippoliti
4/1 – Westchester County, HRM 40: I believe a pair of red-shouldered hawks have been setting up a nest at Goldens Bridge. These are beautiful birds! I’ve seen them cavorting in the sky in what may have been a courtship display, as well as screeching with very distinct calls. This was just the kind of mixed forest that red-shouldered hawks like.
– Rick Stafford
4/2 – Saratoga County, HRM 182: In addition to all of the diving ducks you’d expect to see off Silver Beach on Saratoga Lake, (common goldeneye, common and hooded mergansers, both lesser and greater scaup, bufflehead, and ring-necked ducks) there were also a few American wigeons, a couple of green-winged teal, a gadwall, and black ducks. In studying photos taken today, two showed what appeared to be a diving Barrow’s goldeneye (still unconfirmed).
– Ron Harrower
4/2 – New Paltz, HRM 78: We had four-inches of snow on the flats (the flood-plain fields west of the Wallkill). In midday, there were five snow geese in a variety of color morphs, grazing in the large field on the north side of Route 299. Strangely enough, there were no Canada geese.
– Lynne Bowdery
4/2 – East Fishkill, HRM 66: Our first black bear of the season showed up yesterday, far earlier than previous years (May-June). I first noticed that my bird feeder (twenty-feet up on a cable) was disturbed and the baffle over the feeder was broken. Last night, after dark, I turned on our spotlight to see what wildlife was around and there was the bear, walking through the yard sniffing around. We got six-inches of snow overnight, and this morning, we tracked the bear’s huge paw prints. They were all over the yard, but the bear did no damage.
– Diane Anderson
[The DEC released a Guidance to Homeowners on how to avoid problems with black bears. http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/113258.html]
4/3 – Hunter’s Brook, HRM 67.5: Yesterday’s installation of the glass eel fyke net was tricky, with both the snowfall and high tide. In the rain today, with students from John Jay High School, we checked the fyke and counted 101 glass eels, an amazing number on our first day.
– Grace Ballou, Aidan Mabey
4/3 – Dutchess County: HRM 63: I was poking around in one of the vernal ponds near Castle Point, and found it loaded with fairy shrimp (and mosquito larvae). I also saw what I thought was an early male palm warbler.
– Stephen Seymour
[Fairy shrimp (Anostracan sp.) belong to a diverse group of aquatic, primarily freshwater, crustaceans. NYSDEC]
4/3 – Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 34.5: Both adult osprey were at the cell tower nest next to the Croton-Harmon Train Station this morning. It was the first time this season that I saw both ospreys together. While I was waiting for the train, one of the adults flew over and circled around. Not far away, two adult bald eagles were perched atop a tree on the south side of Croton Point.
– Hugh McLean
4/4 – Rensselaer County, HRM 138: During my survey of Nassau Lake this afternoon, I encountered eleven bird species. Among them were; greater scaup (16) that flew up and circled back, giving me a nice look at their wing-linings, lesser scaup (6), a common loon, and a pied-billed grebe and an adult bald eagle, both of which, had just caught a fish.
– Nancy Jane Kern (Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club)
 4/4 – Dutchess County, HRM 68: I came upon a gorgeous common loon in full breeding plumage on its way north, fishing in Sylvan Lake. It was the first loon I had seen this year. (Photo of common loon courtesy of Carena Pooth)
– Carena Pooth (Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club)
[The common loon, like the bald eagle, raven, black bear, moose, river otter, coyote, and bobcat, are iconic images in the sense that they remind us of less complex times, when demand on space in the watershed was less contentious. Tom Lake]
4/4 – Verplanck, HRM 40.5: After strong, day-long, northwest winds, we had a blow-out tide. At low tide, I was able to walk much farther out into the river around Verplanck Waterfront Park. Two osprey were back on the channel marker for another nesting season. There was a third osprey in the air that kept soaring up very high and then slowly gliding down, vocalizing all the way. It may have been last year’s offspring or an unattached adult.
– Dianne Picciano
 4/4 – Haverstraw Bay, HRM 40-35: Our DEC Region 3 Hudson River Fisheries Unit caught a large (32-inches) shortnose sturgeon in their research gill net today. We took a fin ray to age the fish. Not unlike a tree, sturgeon fin rays have growth rings that we can count. While this was a large one, we did get one last year that was more than 39-inches. (Photo of shortnose sturgeon courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife)
– Amanda Higgs
[Shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) and Atlantic sturgeon (A. oxyrinchus) are long-lived, native fishes. The former tends to spend its life in the estuary, while the latter is anadromous, returning from the sea to spawn. Of the two species, shortnose are the smallest, typically not exceeding 36-inches in length (Atlantics can reach 8-feet long). They are both endangered species, protected by federal law, and possession of either species of Hudson River sturgeon, is prohibited. Sturgeon caught for research are collected under federal permit. Their presence on the Federal Endangered Species list comes as the result of many factors, including past over-harvesting. They are not-infrequently caught (and released) by anglers as unintended by-catch while fishing for other species. Tom Lake]
4/4 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We checked our collection gear in mid-afternoon at The River Project’s sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25 and found that we had caught a juvenile “blackfish” (tautog) that measured 80 millimeters (mm).
– Siddhartha Hayes, Michele Jacobs
[Blackfish is a colloquial name for tautog (Tautoga onitis) a rather common, bottom-dwelling fish of New York Harbor. This common name refers to the adults as they attain a deep, coal black color. Among their favorite foods are shellfish that they find in abundance in near-shore rocky areas. In the spirit of “you are what you eat,” blackfish, perhaps owing to their shellfish diet, are a much sought-after food fish. – Tom Lake]
4/5 – Minerva, HRM 284: I went snowshoeing on the pond in our back forty, where there was still plenty of ice. In the woods, snow depths varied from zero to 20-inches. There was no sign of spring birds, and any red-winged blackbirds had not stuck around.
– Mike Corey
 4/5 – Fort Miller, HRM 192: Our small Thursday birders group found quality in lieu of quantity in Saratoga and Washington counties. On the Hudson, in Fort Miller, we found four red-throated loons and a striking male long-tailed duck. There were now two occupied osprey nests along Route 4, one near the lock and the other just past the bridge, that had been relocated last year. Later, at Saratoga Lake, we counted at least six Bonaparte’s gulls, two with full black hoods [adult breeding plumage]. (Photo of bonaparte gull courtesy of Glen Bartly at Audubon)
– Naomi Lloyd (Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club)
[The original nest, situated on the crosspieces of a power line pole, was first sighted by Ken Harper in 2016. The pair did not produce any offspring that season. In 2017, a pair of bald eagles began to eye the nest, adding their own nesting material, and the power company then moved the nest, erecting a platform on a different pole. Tom Lake]
4/5 – Wappinger Creek, HRM 67.5: After a day-and-a-half of strong northwest winds (40-50 miles-per-hour) the ebb tide just kept on going out – a blowout tide. Three hours into the flood tide, the water had barely risen. After a week of show-and-tell with students, we released our central mudminnow back into tidewater (see March 27). A great blue heron was perched in its nest in a tall sycamore overlooking the drained mud flats. Draped over the side of the nest, was a largemouth bass. It seemed odd for a heron to bring a full-size fish to its nest, but this one must have been easy pickings in the shallow water.
– Tom Lake, B.J. Jackson
[Blowout tides are not common. They occur most frequently following several days of steady and strong north-northwest winds. According to Alan F. Blumberg, director of the Center for Maritime Systems at the Stevens Institute of Technology, blowout tides result from these winds acting on the ocean off New York Harbor, causing extremely low tides there and in turn, up the Hudson. It culminates in an ebb tide that seems to go seaward forever, draining tide marshes and inshore shallows, to give us a glimpse of seldom seen parts of river bottom. Tom Lake]
4/5 – Hunter’s Brook, HRM 67.5: This was the day for Lourdes High School in Hyde Park to check the glass eel fyke net. After the high count of two days ago, we had expectations. But, you cannot orchestrate glass eel results. As soon as you think you have the vagaries of their migration figured out, they surprise you. We caught no glass eels today. However, as scientists would be quick to add, no data is still data. The brook was 44.6 degrees Fahrenheit (F).
– Shelly Cuccia, Mark Deleney, Steven DiMeglio, Tom Lake
[The name of our glass eel research net is called a fyke. The name is derived from the Colonial Dutch word for a fishnet – fuyck or fuik – that forms the shape of a truncated cone. The name was used to describe a neighborhood of the early settlement at Fort Orange (17th century Albany) because of the two roads that emanated from the fort, one along the shoreline and the other leading inland. Viewed from the north wall of Fort Orange, these diverging roads would have resembled the basic shape of a fyke net. Tom Lake]
4/5 – Bedford, HRM 35: There was a lot of activity today at the great blue heron rookery in Bedford. It appeared that they lost a few nests to the nor’easters of the last two months. I counted about 21 nests; we had two dozen in previous years. Two-thirds of the nests were occupied, with lots of clacking, as well as coming-and-going. I watched a male return to a nest with a large branch for nest maintenance. They all seemed to have their finest breeding plumage.
– Rick Stafford
4/5 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: Strong west-northwest winds (24 miles-per hour), coupled with the air temperate barely above freezing, made the wind-chill feel near zero at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch. In mid-morning, we spotted a non-migrating adult bald eagle flying low over the Tappan Zee Bridge. Later, an adult bald eagle was seen to the southwest, where it was joined by another adult, and then a third adult bald eagle. They all flew south. Near midday, an immature bald eagle was off to the west with two turkey vultures, all three migrants. Altogether, we counted six bald eagles with just one a migrant. Broad-winged hawks (3) were high count among raptors. Non-raptor observations included black vultures (4) and common ravens (3).
– Ajit Antony, Liza Antony
[The Hook Mountain Hawkwatch began in 1971 as an all-volunteer endeavor, an independent group of raptor enthusiasts. The Hawkwatch is located on the Long Path, north of Nyack, and we welcome new participants and visitors. Groups should contact us at merlin for introductory materials and possible volunteer scheduling. Trudy Battaly]
4/6 – Minerva, HRM 284: We were still waiting for spring in Minerva. It was 34 degrees F and snowing, with three-inches accumulating and sticking nicely to the trees. A benefit from the late spring has been the tapping of our sugar maples. We had a personal best this season in terms of maple syrup production, with more than a half-gallon from our small-time, energy-inefficient, stove-top operation. That will still translate into lots of pancakes and French toast!
– Mike Corey
4/6 – Hyde Park, HRM 83: This morning’s inch-and-a-half of snow brought my inland, backyard snow total (elevation 425 feet) to 76-inches for this winter’s season. This was third-most, only behind 80-inches in 2003, and 98-inches in 1996. And, like last year, most of the snow (52-inches) came late in the season (February through April). While spring, with its peepers and glass eels, had arrived at our Norrie Point fyke net site on the Enderkill, the peepers had not yet announced themselves up here in our hilly vernal pools. They’re about eleven days late now. A few struggling yellow and purple crocuses gave us a little bit of color and hope.
– Dave Lindemann
 4/6 – Town of Stanford, HRM 88: Thanks to an alert from Barbara Mansell, I was able to see a common loon in breeding plumage, and also watch three bald eagles fishing in Hunn’s Lake. One bald eagle caught a chunky bluegill sunfish. Earlier in the day, there were two pied-billed grebes in the northwest corner of the lake, sporting the black vertical stripe on their bills seen only during the breeding season. (Photo of bald eagle with a bluegill courtesy of Deborah Tracy-Kral)
– Deborah Tracy-Kral
4/6 – Ulster County, HRM 85: It would appear that bald eagle nest NY92 has failed. The pair was still refurbishing a new nest (NY92C) located about 100 yards away across Sturgeon Pool, but the nest they had been incubating this season for 17 days, was now empty. They may be looking at the new nest for next year. Last year, they had one fledgling in the old nest.
– Jim Yates
4/6 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: Non-migrating turkey vultures (23) came up out of the valley today, and an adult male peregrine falcon flew low over the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch. Red-shouldered hawks (10) were high count among raptors with sharp-shinned hawks (7) and American kestrel (6) also prominent. Non-migratory observations included a female northern harrier that came up from the south, flew over the watch, and then flew to the southeast.
– Ajit Antony, Liza Antony
4/6 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We checked our collection gear in mid-afternoon at The River Project’s sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25 and found in our killifish trap, among the many dozens of smaller grass shrimp (Palaemonetes sp.), one mature female nearly 70 (mm) long!
– Siddhartha Hayes, Siri Dolce-Bengtsson, Omar Gabr, Angad Singh
[To determine the sex of the biggest shrimp, since she was large enough to really see the details, we looked at its swimmerets (pleopods). Her swimmerets hooked inward, indicating that they have been used to hold her eggs. Also, the gap over which the swimmerets rest, was quite wide, indicating the same. Nina Hitchings, Siddhartha Hayes]
SPRING 2018 NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS
Friday, April 20 – 7:00 p.m.
The River before Henry (the Prehistory of the Hudson Valley)
Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program’s Consulting Naturalist
Sponsored by the French and Indian War Society
Fort William Henry Museum
Lake George, New York
For information, e-mail Melodie Viele
Free Trees for Streamside Planting
The Hudson River Estuary Program’s Trees for Tribs program offers free native trees and shrubs for planting along the tributary streams in the Hudson River Estuary watershed. Our staff can help you with a planting plan and work with your volunteers. Since 2007, Trees for Tribs has provided more than 40,000 native trees and shrubs for planting along 20 miles of stream with the help of more than 9,000 local volunteers. We are now accepting applications for spring planting projects.
For more information about the program or to download an application, please visit the DEC website at: HudsonEstuaryTFT.
Hudson River: Striped Bass Cooperative Angler Program
Do you fish for striped bass in the Hudson River? You can share your fishing trip information and help biologists understand and manage our striped bass fishery.
– Here’s how it works: Fill out a logbook provided by us whenever you fish on the Hudson River (by boat or shore). Record general location, time, gear used, what you caught (or if you didn’t catch anything) and return the logbook when you are done fishing. You’ll receive an annual newsletter summarizing the information in addition to the latest news regarding regulations and the river.
– Whether you catch-and-release or take home a keeper, you can be part of the Cooperative Angler Program. Join today by contacting: Jessica Best 845-256-3009 jessica.best
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. The tidal section of the Hudson constitutes a bit less than half the total distance – 315 miles – from Lake Tear of the Clouds to the Battery. Entries from points east and west in the watershed reference the corresponding river mile on the mainstem.
TO CONTRIBUTE YOUR OBSERVATIONS OR TO SUBSCRIBE
The Hudson River Almanac is compiled and edited by Tom Lake and emailed weekly by DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program. Share your observations by e-mailing them to trlake7.
To subscribe to the Almanac (or to unsubscribe), use the links on DEC’s Hudson River Almanac or DEC Delivers web pages.
Discover New York State Conservationist – the award-winning, advertisement-free magazine focusing on New York State’s great outdoors and natural resources. Conservationist features stunning photography, informative articles and around-the-state coverage. Visit the Conservationist webpage for more information.
USEFUL LINKS
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration online tide and tidal current predictions are invaluable when planning Hudson River field trips.
For real-time information on Hudson River tides, weather and water conditions from sixteen monitoring stations, visit the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System website.
Information about the Hudson River Estuary Program is available on DEC’s website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4920.html.
Smartphone app available for New York outdoor enthusiasts!
DEC, in partnership with ParksByNature Network®, is proud to announce the launch of the New York Fishing, Hunting & Wildlife App for iPhone and Android. This FREE, cutting-edge mobile app gives both novice and seasoned outdoorsmen and women essential information in the palm of their hands. Powered by Pocket Ranger® technology, this official app for DEC will provide up-to-date information on fishing, hunting and wildlife watching and serve as an interactive outdoor app using today’s leading mobile devices. Using the app’s advanced GPS features, users will be able identify and locate New York’s many hunting, fishing and wildlife watching sites. They will also gain immediate access to species profiles, rules and regulations, and important permits and licensing details.
NY Open for Hunting and Fishing Initiative
Governor Cuomo’s NY Open for Fishing and Hunting Initiative is an effort to improve recreational opportunities for sportsmen and women and to boost tourism activities throughout the state. This initiative includes streamlining fishing and hunting licenses, reducing license fees, improving access for fishing and increasing hunting opportunities in New York State.
In support of this initiative, this year’s budget includes $6 million in NY Works funding to support creating 50 new land and water access projects to connect hunters, anglers, bird watchers and others who enjoy the outdoors to more than 380,000 acres of existing state and easement lands that have gone largely untapped until now. These 50 new access projects include building new boat launches, installing new hunting blinds and building new trails and parking areas. In addition, the 2014-15 budget includes $4 million to repair the state’s fish hatcheries; and renews and allows expanded use of crossbows for hunting in New York State.
This year’s budget also reduces short-term fishing licenses fees; increases the number of authorized statewide free fishing days to eight from two; authorizes DEC to offer 10 days of promotional prices for hunting, fishing and trapping licenses; and authorizes free Adventure Plates for new lifetime license holders, discounted Adventure Plates for existing lifetime license holders and regular fee Adventure Plates for annual license holders.
Copies of past issues of the Hudson River Almanac, Volumes II-VIII, are available for purchase from the publisher, Purple Mountain Press, (800) 325-2665, or email purple |
Hudson River Almanac
