A project of the Hudson River Estuary Program
Compiled by Tom Lake, Consulting Naturalist
Overview
One of the best attributes of the Almanac, according to some readers, lies in its diversity of stories and characters. This week we roam from red-spotted newts in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks to humpback whales in the saltwater of the Lower Bay of New York Harbor, a journey of more than 220 miles. In between those times and places, we’ve had a barracuda, butterflies, songbirds, and orchids, as well as the beloved wonder and awe of our students.
Highlight of the Week
 7/16 – New York Harbor, Lower Bay: At least one humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), possibly two, were spotted swimming around Raritan Bay off the south side of Staten Island this morning. The whale came within 100 feet of a fishing boat where anglers watched it for at least 30 minutes. They estimated it to be the size of a large SUV.
In late autumn 2016, a humpback whale cruised into the Upper Bay of New York Harbor from the Verrazano Narrows to the George Washington Bridge for six days feasting on Atlantic menhaden before returning to the open ocean. (Photo of humpback whale courtesy of Tom Collins)
– Tom Lake
[From 2007-2009, Cornell University did an experiment listening in on the underwater acoustics of New York Harbor, where, to the astonishment of many, they discovered at least six species of whales vocalizing from the Statue of Liberty to just past the Verrazano Narrows. Biology-online.org]
Natural History Entries
Errata to last week’s Hudson River Almanac:
7/6 – Alley Pond, Queens: The photo showed a female striped killifish rather than a male killifish.
7/13 – Waterford, HRM 159: The photo showed a young-of-year smallmouth bass, not a northern logperch.
– Tom Lake
 7/13 – Brooklyn, New York City: Our staff from Coastal Classrooms of the City Parks Foundation caught a northern sennet in our seine today at the mouth of tidal Coney Island Creek in Kasier Park, on the north side of Coney Island. (Photo of northern sennet courtesy of Luis Gonzalez)
– Luis Gonzalez
[The northern sennet is a barracuda, one of two members of the family (Sphyraenidae) in the estuary. Northern sennet max out at 18-inches-long, hardly the great barracuda (S. barracuda) that can get to more than six-feet-long. Northern sennet are found in coastal waters from Cape Cod to Florida and with tooth-studded jaws, are an apex predator in their own right. Tom Lake]
 7/13 – Minerva, HRM 284: Our songbirds have been singing, including common yellowthroats, yellow warblers, wood thrush, and the occasional ovenbird and red-eyed vireo. I rarely see them, but in terms of the songs, you can’t miss them. Ruby-throated hummingbirds have also been very active at our feeders. (Photo of ruby-throated hummingbird courtesy of Jim Yates)
– Mike Corey
 7/13 – Hamilton County, HRM 208: We had a fun hike yesterday with the Hamilton County Trailblazers, a program for Hamilton County students. We had eight students with us as we hiked along the edge of a creek that empties into the Sacandaga River. By rolling small logs around a bit in the forest, we found many red-spotted newts and a few Jefferson salamanders. I usually find red-backed salamanders, but not on this trip. We also found spectacular patches of blooming partridgeberry and possibly the largest patch of moccasin flowers, about ten feet in diameter, I had ever seen. I found ten that had bloomed and maybe fifty individual stems of moccasin flower ranging from single small-leaved plants to much larger leaf-pair plants that were almost mature enough to flower (seems to me that takes at least seven years). (Photo of moccasin flower courtesy of J.J. Harrison)
– Mike Corey, Robin Hausle
[Moccasin flower, also known as pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule), is an orchid. Due to the often-unbridled zeal of orchid collectors, in the interest of preservation, we never give exact locations where they are found. Tom Lake]
7/13 – Yonkers, HRM 18: It was City Water Day in Yonkers and the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak hosted the public as an “In Your Neighborhood Site.” We felt that seining was the best option to display the natural history of the river, and our catch demonstrated that very well. Among the five fishes we caught were American eels, bay anchovies, banded killifish, striped bass, and white perch. Crustaceans were common as well with blue crabs, sand shrimp, and shore shrimp. In the back of the net, we found a soft-shelled, or steamer clam (Mya arenaria).
– Katie Lamboy
 7/14 – Southern Dutchess County: I live on a small lake (less than five acres) that has a likewise small island in the middle (diameter of less than 500 feet). Every year we have had a few green herons nesting on the island, but this year, we’ve consistently seen more than twenty, all at the same time. The first green herons, a pair, arrived April 21, and several more came and went after that, up to six at once. The first nest was built April 25. By June 9, there were two fluffy-looking chicks being preened by an adult in a different nest. Those chicks had already been in and out of the nest, but stayed very close by. On June 17, I saw three more chicks, and now all five were sitting very close together. By June 24, eight fledglings were on the island with five adults. By June 27, there were ten fledglings and a dozen adults. Today, I could see some younger-looking nestlings, yet to fledge. By now, I have almost lost track of the rest of them, but they always seem to be around. (Photo of green heron courtesy of Deborah Tracy Kral)
– Laura Facchin
[The number of green herons is definitely notable for Dutchess County. Green herons normally gather in the late summer after breeding, but this is a larger than usual congregation. On our visit, we counted at least three nests, but more may have been hidden in the thick vegetation. We saw some young-of-the-season immatures, but we could not confirm that all were from this location. We would like to revisit the lake and the island, perhaps after leaf fall, to determine the total number of nests that might be intact. Based on our recent information, we cannot tell if this is a true “rookery.” Next Spring will be very interesting. Barbara Mansell, Maha Katnani, Barbara Butler (Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club]
7/14 – Bedford, HRM 35: There was some vocalizing at the great blue heron rookery today. The rookery was down to five nestlings in three nests. There was no branching activity; preening and exercising their wings was the main activity while waiting for food to arrive. No adults arrived during my time there. They were most likely teaching their young ones that have fledged to hunt for their own food. By keeping the remaining nestlings a bit hungry, they will encourage them to leave the nest.
– Jim Steck
 7/15 – Ulster County, HRM 108: Over the last few weeks, I have been seeing large numbers of eastern tiger swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) in the Catskill Mountains. At the Seager Trailhead on Dry Brook Road in Big Indian, I witnessed hundreds of tiger swallowtails fluttering around the road, “mud-puddling.” (Photo of eastern tiger swallowtails courtesy of Angela Schimizzi)
– Angela Schimizzi
[This is fairly typical behavior in the Catskills, especially for tiger swallowtails and red-spotted purples. The concentrations tend to be greater during periods of extremely dry weather when large numbers are attracted to relatively few areas of wet mud. I have encountered this phenomenon most often in trailhead parking areas, but that may be an artifact of the ease of access. Still, seeing hundreds of single species is exceptional. Steve Chorvas]
7/15 – Staatsburg, HRM 86: Early this morning, when the tide was almost at its lowest, there were two white-tailed deer standing in the shallow water at the north end of Mills’ Cove breakfasting on the water chestnut that blankets the water. While watching them from the south end of the cove, I surprised a spotted sandpiper that had been foraging among the exposed gravel.
– David Lund
7/15 – Yonkers, HRM 18: A group of elementary school students, ages 5-8, from the Yonkers community program “Can We Talk,” joined our staff at the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak to sample the aquatic life of the river. While the Atlantic silverside and blue crabs were fascinating, the 29 mixed adult and young-of-year mummichogs 15-95 millimeters (mm) long, and colorful killifish captured their imaginations.
– Elisa Caref, Lucy Jurina, Marla Wilson, Janesse Bell, Zahir Foster.
[Note: one inch = 25.4 millimeters (mm)]
7/15 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We started off our research week by checking our sampling gear in Hudson River Park at The River Project’s research station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25. Our catch was typical but never boring: Two adult oyster toadfish (450, 550 mm), an adult tautog (330 mm), and three feisty blue crabs (35-165 mm).
– Toland Kister
7/15 – Manhattan, New York City: Our Randall’s Island Park Alliance staff and interns conducted our first harbor-heron monitoring of the month this morning. The wind was nearly nil and the air temperatures eventual rose to 82 degrees Fahrenheit (F) by midday. Across our ten survey points on the coast of the island, we spotted a few great egrets flying overhead, one snowy egret flyover, multiple double-crested cormorants flying and sitting out on rocks, as well as various species of gulls and swallows. We also noted an osprey wheeling overhead at one of our northern points.
With a summer group from Teacher’s College, we went to the east side of the island (Water’s Edge Garden Beach) in the afternoon and did three seine hauls in the Harlem River. The group collected three northern pipefish, 24 Atlantic silverside, and one each winter flounder, Atlantic tomcod, and white perch. Invertebrates included shore shrimp, sand shrimp, and mud dog whelk snails. The water temperature was 77 degrees F, and the salinity was 25.0 parts-per-thousand (ppt), about 72-percent seawater.
– Jacqueline Wu
7/16 – Stockport Creek, HRM 122: Our annual canoe trip on Stockport Creek for patrons of the North Chatham Library brought fifteen adults and five children out for a paddle on the night of the Full Buck Moon. The full moon in July is named for the time when male white-tailed deer begin to grow a set of antlers. Other names for the July full moon include Thunder Moon, due to the summer storm patterns, and Hay Moon, after the hay harvest. It was music to my ears during the paddle to hear one of the children say, “This is better than Cape Cod,” and “Poppa, can we do this again?” While my seine net may have been empty on this trip, my heart was filled as I enjoyed seeing the students, young and old, connecting with the Hudson River and its Stockport tributary.
– Fran Martino
(Many of the full moon names we have inherited, such as the Full Buck Moon of July, have their origins in native American culture. Tom Lake)
7/16 – Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 34.5: There was some movement this morning – a lone chick calling for breakfast – in the osprey nest atop the cell tower in the Metro North parking lot. Although I had seen the nestling jumping from antenna to antenna, I cannot say I had seen it fly.
– Hugh McLean
7/16 – Yonkers, HRM 18: First-graders from the Fieldston Outdoors program in the Bronx seined the river with Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak staff. Our catch, bay anchovies, striped bass, and blue crabs, was minimal, but to the students, they were all magical.
– Katie Lamboy, Lucy Jurina, Marla Wilson, Janesse Bell, Zahir Foster.
 7/16 – Manhattan, HRM 13.5: The Nature Center at Inwood Hill Park was still closed for reconstruction (because of Hurricane Sandy), but the garden had been replanted with native species. Bee balm was brilliant; carmine and common milkweed had well developed seed pods. A black swallowtail was nectaring on purple Echinacea, blooming with purple giant hyssop and black-eyed Susan. The little “three sisters” patch was partly restored; corn was at shoulder height and squash blossoms were starting to open, but I saw no bean plants.
Pokeweed had unripe berries, but honeysuckle was blooming. I was surprised to see a big common mullein, its second-year spike (it’s biennial) beginning to bloom. A red-winged blackbird flitted from perch to perch along the water where a few lovely bindweed flowers remained, and white sweet-clover and white vervain were blooming. False indigo (Amorpha fruticosa) was budding, and chairmaker’s rush and spartina were looking healthy.
On the path up the Clove, jewelweed had just a few flowers. The dry summer seemed to have reduced growth overall in the Clove; the spring at the glacial potholes was barely a trickle. The little spinulose wood fern that I’ve been visiting for several years appeared to be well.
Up on the ridge, common enchanter’s nightshade (not a nightshade) was flowering as well as more sweet-clover, a little motherwort, and a few blooms of celandine and herb-robert. A big clump of purple-node joe-pye weed, intermingled with pokeweed, was budding nicely and should soon be spectacular. (Photo of black swallowtail courtesy of Thomas Shoesmith)
– Thomas Shoesmith
[The “Three Sisters,” a grouping of corn-maize (Zea mays), common beans (probably Phaseolus vulgaris), and squash (likely Cucurbita sp.) was a horticultural practice that originated in Mexico and later spread throughout native North America prior to the effects of European settlement. Without in-depth knowledge of ecology, its application was largely intuitive. In the Northeast, maize began to be cultivated about 2,000 years ago. The stalks served as a trellis or support for beans as they climbed to reach sunlight (beans arrived in the Northeast about AD 1300). The third member, and the earliest arrival, of the Three Sisters was squash (about 2,800 years ago). Squash provided ground cover, weed control, and helped cool the soil. This form of companion planting served the first of us very well until Europeans decided that it was far too unorganized. Their solution was to plant each crop by itself, thus disconnecting their symbiotic relationship (symbiosis is from the Greek sym and bios, which translates as “together in life.”) Tom Lake]
7/16 – Manhattan, New York City: The Randall’s Island Park Alliance went seining in the Harlem River this afternoon at high tide, which tempered our expectations. Our catch included young-of-year bluefish, Atlantic silverside, and blue crabs. The river temperature was 78 degrees F, and the salinity was 20.0 ppt, about 60-percent seawater.
– Jacqueline Wu
7/17 – Yonkers, HRM 18: Our Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak high school Summer Youth Employment Program students found a dead oyster toadfish (203 mm) floating in the shallows. While not a surprising find, it is a species that we do not commonly see this far upriver.
– Elisa Caref, Katie Lamboy
7/17 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We checked our research sampling gear in Hudson River Park at The River Project’s sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25 and found a mix of fishes: the highlight may have been a 26-inch-long American eel! Beyond the eel, we also found a foot-long tautog and a young-of-year oyster toadfish (90 mm).
– Toland Kister, Siddhartha Hayes
7/17 – Manhattan, New York City: Today was Pollinator Monitoring Day at Randall’s Island Park Alliance. There was barely any wind (highest was 1.5 miles-per-hour) and the air temperature was more than 90 degrees F. We spotted flies, wasps, butterflies, bees, and beetles. Most of the butterflies were cabbage whites (Pieris sp.), although we also saw a monarch butterfly. Most bees were carpenter bees, but there were also honey bees and bumble bees.
– Jacqueline Wu
*** Fish of the Week ***
 7/18 – Hudson River Watershed: Fish-of-the-Week for Week 31 is the mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), number 116 (of 228) on our watershed list of fishes. If you would like a copy of our list, e-mail trlake7.
Mummichogs are one of five killifishes (Cyprinodontidae) on our watershed fish list. They are a small fish, rarely exceeding 100 (mm) in length, and are found in coastal waters and estuaries from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to Florida. Together with its close relative, the banded killifish (F. diaphanus), they are common in the lower Hudson River estuary. Part of their diet consists of insect larvae, especially mosquitos, and they have been used as a biological control in urban areas with high mosquito densities.
The name mummichog has a Native American origin, and is generally interpreted, at least with Algonquian speakers, as “going in crowds.” This describes the schooling predilection of most killifishes to travel in large numbers, particularly young-of-year. Native Americans did not have a written language, or at least of the type recognized by Europeans. Theirs was an oral tradition, featuring stories, storytellers, and elders who were the keepers of the stories. Therefore, mummichog is a phonetic representation of the native spoken word. (Photo of mummichog courtesy of Tom Lake)
– Tom Lake
 7/18 – Westchester County, HRM 43: We have known for several years that our white pines in Katonah had a red-tailed hawk nest, usually with two nestlings each year. This past week, we noticed the red-tailed hawk adults and three fledglings near the nest. Crows had also established a nest on a nearby oak, but we couldn’t comprehend why they would reside in a hawk neighborhood. Now the crows have left and one of the red-tail fledglings was occupying the crow’s nest. (Photo of red-tailed hawk courtesy of Ben Hulsey)
– Tom Connor
[The crow-raptor relationship is complex. What Tom describes is not uncommon with red-tailed hawks and eagles as well. Crows harass raptors. They succeed in their harassment because they are more agile in flight than most raptors. This battle, and the endless drama that surrounds it, long predates our being here to see it. Tom Lake]
7/19 – Wappinger Creek, HRM 66.5: The tidal Wappinger was ebbing fast and the shallows were nearly fully choked with Eurasian water chestnut. While low tide is normally hunting time for eagles, the water chestnut presented a barrier to the richest stretch of shallows in the creek. As I watched, two adult bald eagles perused the narrowing gap between the vegetation and deeper water, in vain from what I could tell, searching for prey.
– Tom Lake
7/19 – Bedford, HRM 35: I stopped by the great blue heron rookery today. All of nests were empty; another season had passed! [In 2018, all the nests were empty on 7/14.]
– Rick Stafford
7/19 – Yonkers, HRM 18: Middle and high school students, part of the Yonkers community Sister-to-Sister program, joined the staff at the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak this morning to investigate the Hudson River. While an American eel was impressive, the students loved the colorful mummichogs, Atlantic silverside, young-of-year striped bass, and blue crabs.
– Elisa Caref, Marla Wilson, Janesse Bell, Zahir Foster
7/19 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We ended our sampling week by checking our research gear in Hudson River Park at The River Project’s sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25. The highlight of our catch was two adult tautog (blackfish) measuring 215-225 (mm). We guessed that the three smaller blue crabs in the fish trap were eager to get out.
– Siddhartha Hayes
[“Blackfish” is a colloquial common name for tautog (Tautoga onitis), a rather common, bottom-dwelling fish of New York Harbor. Their colloquial name refers to the adults as they can 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 sought-after food fish. Tom Lake]
Summer 2019 Natural History Programs
Saturday, August 10th 9:00am – 4:00pm
Great Hudson River Fish Count
Various sitesJoin us for the Great Hudson River Estuary Fish Count on Saturday, August 10th to explore the amazing variety of slippery, wriggly, and fascinating creatures usually hidden below the river’s surface. The Fish Count will take place at 19 sites along the banks and piers of the Hudson from Staten Island in New York City to Peebles Island State Park in the Capital Region. Depending on the site, seines, minnow traps, and rods and reels are used. Participants may don waders to help haul a seine – a curtain of net used in shallow water – or try their luck with a fishing rod. After naturalists display and discuss the catch, the fish are released back to the river.
The Great Hudson River Estuary Fish Count is free. For details on sites, locations, and times, please visit DEC’s website. The event is sponsored by DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program.
Tuesday, August 20 – Thursday August 22 (9:00 AM – 4:00 PM)
2019 Teachers on the Estuary and Living Environment Institute
Amazing Watersheds (22 credit hours for NYS certified teachers and administrators)
Five Rivers Environmental Education Center, 56 Game Farm Road, Delmar, New York
Join us this summer as we explore amazing watersheds. Teachers will spend three days gaining valuable knowledge and learning new curricula while using interdisciplinary approaches to explore watersheds. Some easy hiking on trails is involved.
Cost: $60.00 for materials, supplies, and refreshments (dinner provided on Wednesday)
To register, e-mail drew.hopkins
Saturday, September 14 – 1:00- 4:00 PM
Science on the River
Norrie Point Environmental Education Center, Staatsburg
We would like to invite you to our open house featuring hands-on, interactive demonstrations, displaying scientific research and discovery on the estuary and in the Hudson Valley. Activities, with educational games and crafts, will be targeted towards both young and adult audiences.
For more information, email maija.niemisto or call 845-889-4745 x109.
Saturday, September 21 – 10:00 AM
20th annual Hudson River Valley Ramble
Kowawese Unique Area, New Windsor (off Route 9W)
Join us on the beach at low tide as we investigate through sampling (with nets), Hudson River aquatic life in the shadow of Storm King Mountain at the northern gateway to the Hudson Highlands.
For more information, e-mail: trlake7
Hudson River: Striped Bass Cooperative Angler Program
You can share your fishing trip information and help biologists understand and manage our Hudson River 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 from 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 for the season. 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, or call 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 Almanacor 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.
DEC’s Smartphone app for iPhone and Android is now available at: New York Fishing, Hunting & Wildlife App. |
