A project of the Hudson River Estuary Program, compiled by Tom Lake Consulting Naturalist
Overview
This is the time of year when magic is occurring all around us. The forests are beginning to sport color, bald eagle nestlings are many and hungry, and in a timely fashion, the river and its tributaries are filling up with river herring. Our Highlight of the Week, that had several candidates, is an uncommon wading bird making only its third visit to Dutchess County.
Highlight of the Week
 4/21 – Cruger Island, HRM 99.5: We walked out the Cruger Island causeway this morning just as a tricolored heron dropped in. The wading bird flew off for a while but came down later to forage in the cove near the railroad embankment south of the causeway. What a beautiful bird. (Photo of tricolored heron courtesy of Susan Rogers)
– Susan Rogers, Liz Martens, Barbara Mansell, Deborah Tracy-Kral (Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club)
[According to DeOrsey and Butler’s, The Birds of Dutchess County, this was just the third record of a tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor) in Dutchess County. Both previous sightings (1978,1994) were at Tivoli North Bay, essentially the same location as this one. Although the tricolored heron now nests on Long Island and along the Connecticut shore, they are much more common in the southeast U.S. and along the Gulf Coast and is considered a casual visitant in our area. A photo of the bird showed it holding a fish in its bill, later determined to be a tessellated darter (Etheostoma olmstedi), a species of perch. Tom Lake]
Natural History Entries
4/20 – Delmar, HRM 143: Fifteen hopeful birders met at Five Rivers Environmental Education Center this morning to scour the grounds for arriving spring migrants. We set out covering field, thicket, marsh, and ponds from the visitor center to the Research Ponds and back and collectively tallied 38 species. Highlights included two Cooper’s hawks, several eastern towhees, eastern meadowlark (first heard and identified from two fields away by Tom Williams), a hooded merganser on the Fox Marsh pond, and several singing house wrens.
– Tom Williams, Denise Hackert-Stoner, John Kent, Scott Stoner (Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club)
4/20 – East Fishkill, HRM 66: Our feeders had been out for a week, and this afternoon we saw our first ruby-throated hummingbird (male) of the season. I put the feeders out a bit early just in case the little wonders needed a sip.
– Diane Anderson
4/20 – Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 34.5: What appeared to be one of last year’s osprey nestlings was at the Croton Train Station cell tower nest calling loudly and steadily, perhaps seeking a free meal. Alas, its request went unanswered.
– Hugh McLean
4/20 – Rockland County, HRM 33: The female from bald eagle nest NY336 has been spending more time out of the nest but was always perched close by watching over her two nestlings. The nestlings appeared well acclimated now as they popped their heads up and moved around the nest. The male returned to the nest today with a fish and began feeding the nestlings.
– Chris Galligan
4/21 – Newcomb, HRM 302: A wet weekend had the Hudson River gauge height at 11.15 feet, only a foot and half below the record for this location that occurred during a January 1998 ice storm. To see the force of the river during this high water was impressive and a little daunting. Lawns and open areas were bare ground now, but still plenty of snow covered the High Peaks and here on north-facing slopes. Some daffodils and crocus were making appearances in the garden. Seeing some cheery yellow coltsfoot in bloom was a happy reminder that spring will get here, eventually.
– Charlotte Demers
4/21 – Minerva, HRM 284: Spring peepers arrived in numbers today They first showed up in the wetland of our “back forty.” Wood frogs have been heard in the area, but they have eluded me so far.
– Mike Corey
[“Back forty” is a colloquial expression meant to convey wild or rough terrain adjacent to a developed area. In the instance of a farm, for example, it might be a small percentage of the land left uncultivated or natural, frequently in the “back forty acres” of the property. Tom Lake]
4/21 – Saratoga County, HRM 182: I did a short survey of Saratoga Lake in midday, but I did not see much until I passed the pumping station. There, I found a flotilla of scaup including greater scaup (24) and lesser scaup (56). Nearby, there was a horned grebe, in full breeding plumage, as well as a red-necked grebe.
– Ron Harrower
4/21 – Saratoga County, HRM 177: I visited Wright’s Loop, just south of Schuylerville this afternoon. While I spent a long-time observing waterfowl and other species, I spotted a Eurasian green-winged teal almost right away. So many ducks were at the far side of the vernal pond, I walked on a trail to get closer. Wood ducks (34) took off, but others stayed. Other highlights among the 25 species I counted included American wigeon (57), northern pintail (38), Canada geese (45), American black duck (95), mallard (348), and (American) green-winged teal (68).
– Ron Harrower
[Taxonomically, the Eurasian green-winged teal and the (American) green-winged teal are unsettled species, perhaps a victim of “lumpers and splitters.” John Kent offers that the Eurasian green-winged teal is quite rare, or at least rarely reported, but perhaps not as rare as the low number of observations would suggest. They may often get overlooked. Birders don’t generally spend a lot of time trying to find one among a flock of teal. David Allen Sibley considers the (American) green-winged-teal (Anas crecca carolinensis) to be a sub-species of the Eurasian (common) green-winged teal (A. crecca crecca). Tom Lake]
4/21 – Bedford, HRM 35: The great blue heron rookery still appeared to be in the incubation stage. All but two herons were settled deeply down in their nests. One of the standing herons was reaching down in the nest possibly turning eggs before settling down to continue incubating. The other standing heron was just looking around, waiting for its mate to arrive. It could also mean that hatching has started since it is about the right time for hatching to occur. Most of the nests are deep, and the nestlings will be about the size of a robin when we first get to see them.
– Jim Steck
4/21 – Spuyten Duyvil, HRM 13.5: I was riding the 7:15 AM Metro North train from Croton-on-Hudson to Grand Central Terminal, when just a little north of Spuyten Duyvil, I spotted an immature bald eagle flying over the river just offshore. As I watched, it dove down and snatched a fish off the water and then disappeared. It was a cool way to start the day.
– Hugh L. McLean
4/22 – Minerva, HRM 284: I heard my first eastern phoebe and winter wren songs today – great signs of spring. We still have some ice on the “back forty” pond and some north-side snow banks in our yard. But, the crocuses are blooming, and there are buds on the daffodils.
– Mike Corey
 4/22 – Town of Poughkeepsie: On Earth Day, it seemed entirely fitting that we could watch the adults in bald eagle nest NY62 comforting their nestlings. In addition to the resiliency of eagles, it has been the spirit of Earth Day since 1969 that has inspired public sentiment and support for eagles and all that they touch. (Photo of bald eagles NY62 courtesy of John Badura)
– Tom Lake
4/22 – Newburgh, HRM 61: Good news from bald eagle nest NY488A: two nestlings have hatched, and we think they may already be two weeks old. We have been observing food coming into the nest. NY488A is a relocation of the pair that had a nest (NY488) at Mount Saint Mary’s College not far away. In 2018, their first year, they had two fledglings, after which the nest fell from the tree.
– Chuck Thomas, Dan Tooker
4/22 – Mid-Hudson Valley: One of the most special times of every spring is when the white flowers of shadbush (Amelanchier canadensis), a native tree, bring color to the early spring landscape. In times past, far earlier than the arrival of Europeans, those who worked on the river came to associate certain blooms, such as the shadbush, with events unseen. Its flowers would appear in the forest, even before their green leaves, at the time when American shad and other fishes were beginning their spawning run from the sea, ascending estuaries along the Mid-Atlantic coast and Northeast. For millennia, purveyors of fish have made the connection and planned their season accordingly.
Another common or colloquial name for Amelanchier is serviceberry. The timely blooming of its flowers generally coincides with the warming of spring, and with winter having passed, ministers and other clergy would pass from town to town performing marriage ceremonies. The warming of the soil also allowed for burials to proceed that had been held over from winter due to the frozen ground.
– Tom Lake]
4/22 – Manhattan, HRM 13.5: It was a warm day at Inwood Hill Park, and the big cherry tree inside the Isham Street entrance was blooming. A pair of crabapples were at that lovely stage when dark pink buds mix with white blossoms. Violets and periwinkle were blooming, and near the Nature Center, grape hyacinths and a lilac bush were as well. Leaves of burdock, broad-leaved dock, and common mallow were plentiful and so was red dead-nettle. The big, black willow by the salt marsh was dropping catkins. Along the path up through The Clove, spicebush had finished flowering, lesser celandine had flowers, the first leaves (cotyledons) of jewelweed had appeared, and the little patch of mayapple had big leaves. Most pleasing was the flowering Dutchman’s breeches.
Up on the ridge, most of the forsythia had dropped its flowers, but the leaves of day-lily were crowded and a foot high. This year’s display promises to be spectacular. Jetbead shrubs (Rhodotypos scandens), scattered through the woods, were flowering. Jetbead, native to China, is in the rose family, but the white flowers have four petals.
– Thomas Shoesmith
*** Fish of the Week***
Now that winter has slowly retreated to points north, much of the watershed’s ponds, creeks, lakes, and rivers are ice-free, and we are recovering from our winter fish withdrawal. For 13 weeks, our Fish-of-the-Week feature has helped during a bleak fish-less winter. It has worked so well that we may continue the feature, at least until we get tired of taking space from real fish stories.
 4/23 – Hudson River Watershed: This week’s fish is the spot (Leiostomus xanthurus), a seasonally resident marine species. Spot are one of seven members of the drum family (Sciaenidae) in our watershed. Others include black drum, northern kingfish, Atlantic croaker, silver perch, weakfish, and freshwater drum. Spot are number 187 (of 228) on our watershed list of fishes. If you would like a copy of our list, e-mail: trlake7.
Spot are small saltwater fish not often exceeding ten-inches or weighing more than a pound. They are a favorite recreational species and are often thought of as a “saltwater” bluegill sunfish. They are also one of many that have lent their presence to the lore and legend of Hudson River fishes. Long ago, when I began to pay attention to the Hudson River and those who plied their trade on the water, I consistently heard of “Lafayettes” from well-seasoned fishermen. I discovered that this was a colloquial name for spot, and while the name has since faded out of memory, the story is legendary.
The presence of spot in the river can be very sporadic, and after a long absence, a great run of spot came into the lower Hudson River in 1824, coinciding with a visit from France’s Marquis de Lafayette. The Marquis was invited to Manhattan for a parade in his honor to show our gratitude for his effort on behalf of the American Colonies during the American Revolution. A further honor was bestowed on the Marquis when Leiostomus xanthurus became the “Lafayette.” (Photo of spot courtesy of Peter Park)
– Tom Lake
4/23 – Poestenkill, HRM 151.5: We visited the mouth of the Poestenkill at Troy to see if river herring had finally made their way up to the far end of tidewater. We saw at least 100 river herring but could not tell if they were alewives or blueback herring. Both species have been seen in this tributary in the past.
– Bob Schmidt, Bryan Weatherwax
 4/23 – Town of Ulster, HRM 98: I have been monitoring a colony of juniper hairstreak butterflies (Callophrys gryneus) in the Town of Ulster for several years, targeting my first seasonal visit for late April when the first brood emerges. After finding no sign of the butterfly on April 19, I returned four days later to observe a significant flight of pristine fresh individuals perching and flying immediately around their larval host plant, the eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana). Males typically appear ahead of females, so it was not surprising that all behaved like males, with several engaged in aerial dogfights. It is difficult to get an exact count when males are actively defending territory, but I conservatively estimated there were at least 25 flying around on a glorious morning. (Photo of jumiper hairstreak butterfly courtesy of Steve Chorvas)
– Steve Chorvas
4/23 – Beacon, HRM 61: I caught and released two carp and four brown bullheads from Long Dock today. The largest was 12 pounds 1 ounce, and the other one was 4.0 pounds. The brown bullheads were small, 8-10-inches. Much of my bait was “stolen” without registering a nibble at all, an indication that golden shiners were at work.
– Bill Greene
4/24 – Minerva, HRM 284: I was driving home from Wells (Hamilton County) on Route 28N this evening, and at the Moxham swamp near Moxham Pond, I had to slow down as an American bittern scrambled across the road. This wading bird wasn’t flying; it was running across ending up on the shoulder. We normally have at least one in the marsh behind our house, but I have never seen one at Moxham.
– Mike Corey
4/24 – Esopus Meadows HRM 87: Seventh-graders from Orville Todd Middle School in Spackenkill joined us at Esopus Meadows Preserve for our Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Tideline program. It was an amazing day for seining. In a dozen hauls, we caught spottail shiners (42), banded killifish (27), a pumpkinseed sunfish, two brown bullheads, a fourteen-inch white sucker, and four blueback herring. The herring, on their spawning run from the sea, were immediately released. They were far too fragile to keep in our tanks for any length of time.
The teachers were committed to this program making sure that students got to lead the seining station. There was also some friendly competition as to who caught the most fish. The students enjoyed the seining, identifying the fish, and discussing their adaptations. It was a beautiful day on the estuary!
– Eli Schloss
4/24 – Town of Poughkeepsie: It was a small thing, not terribly compelling, something that most of us never take the time to notice. This afternoon, we watched a turkey vulture for nearly an hour as it teetered overhead making large ellipses in the sky without a single wing beat. Their impressive aerodynamics look like they are doing a high-wire act. While the turkey vulture held our eyes, we were there to watch bald eagle nest NY62. An adult sat in the nest, its stark white head glowing in the defused sunlight. Its two nestlings seemed content. After a while, the adult got up, went over to the rim of the nest facing the river, and appeared to be searching for the absent adult. We have seen this behavior many times over the years, when the nest-bound adult may have felt the return of its mate was far overdue.
– Tom Lake, T.R. Jackson
 4/24 – Poughkeepsie, HRM 75: The great horned owl (see April 9) had two nestlings in its tree cavity nest. The adorable owlets looked like Muppets. (Photo of great horned owls courtesy of Terry Hardy)
– Terry Hardy
4/24 – Hunter’s Brook, HRM 67.5: Our Wappinger Junior High students have been seeing large numbers of glass eels in our fyke net, and today we counted 692. Not too many years ago, 692 would have been at least a month’s worth of glass eels.
– Jennifer Hansen
4/24 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: Broad-winged hawks were high count today at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch accounting for 11 of the 14 raptors. Also noted was a bald eagle, an American kestrel, and a Cooper’s hawk.
– Steve Sachs
4/24 – Yonkers, HRM 18: For our first official school seining program of the season, we hosted sixteen Yonkers School 4th graders at our Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak. After seven hauls of our net through the marsh, we had collected ten mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus) ranging from 30-60 millimeters (mm).
– Katie Lamboy, Jay Muller, Elisa Caref
[Note: one inch = 25.4 millimeters (mm)]
4/24 – Manhattan, HRM 2: At midday today, a common raven flew only a few yards over my head on 2nd Avenue and East 3rd Street, carrying a rat in its beak, not its talons, as would a raptor. At the time I questioned whether or not it was an American crow, but the next day I saw it again, this time flying into a honey locust, and I got a good look. It was huge – the size of a red-tailed hawk. I contacted New York City Audubon, and they verified that they were seeing ravens as well, even on the roof of their office building.
– Robert Shapiro
4/24 – 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 handsome tautog (225 mm), also known as blackfish, and a beautiful lined sea horse (75 mm). They quickly made themselves at home in their respective tanks, nestling into the benthic habitat of The River Project’s lab on Pier 40.
-Toland Kister, Melissa Rex
4/25 – Saw Kill, HRM 98.5: I spent some time on the Saw Kill at Bard College today. For the first time this year, I saw a group of ten white suckers in spring-spawning colors with the males carrying a red lateral stripe and breeding tubercles on their head and fins. Alewives, about 30 of them, had also made their first appearance, and I watched a short spawning bout. Smallmouth bass had also made their first appearance. I detected them with my personal sampling gear. [Rod, reel, shiny lures.]
– Bob Schmidt
4/25 – Ulster County, HRM 88: Researchers have studied the animals and habitats of some of the larger tributaries of the Hudson River, but it would be hard to map and monitor the hundreds of tiny brooks and creeks that tumble into the estuary. I took the end of a fine-meshed, funnel-shaped kick net and modified it into a miniature fyke net. Last night, I set it just above the high tide line in Bullfrog Brook, a tiny creek that bubbles into the river a quarter-mile upriver from Esopus Meadows. This morning, I found a small bullfrog and a six-inch elver wriggling in the trap. It makes me wonder about the biodiversity, productivity, and energy flows of even the smallest waterways. They all contribute.
– Chris Bowser
 4/25 – Wappinger Creek, HRM 67.5: It was just before sunrise, and there was a nip in the air when we found a common loon (Gavia immer) in breeding plumage trolling in the tidewater shallows. In the diffused early light of dawn, the loon’s matte-black head and bill were like midnight, its stark-white chest glowed, and its red eyes penetrated the water as it searched for fish. Loons troll with their eyes, a behavior beautifully described by John McPhee in his classic, The Survival of the Bark Canoe. Even though we watched carefully, one moment he was there, the next he had dissolved into the dark water. (Photo of common loon courtesy of Mauricette Charr-Potthast)
– Tom Lake, B.J. Jackson
John McPhee is a poet when he describes the loon: “He is out there cruising still, in the spiraling morning mist, looking for fish, trolling. He trolls with his eyes. Water streams across his forehead as he moves along, and he holds his eyes just below the surface, watching the interior of the lake. He is gone. He saw something, and he is no doubt eating it now. When he dives, he just disappears. As a diver there is nothing like him. His wings close tight around his body, condensing everything – feathers, flesh – and he goes down like a powered stone, his big feet driving. He is known as the great northern diver.”
 4/25 – Piermont, HRM 25: I took two of my Nyack College classes (General Biology II and Ecology) on a field trip to the Hudson River at Piermont. Across six hours, we seined and recreation-fished from Piermont Pier. While our seining catch was meager, the one species we caught – young-of-year Atlantic menhaden – was very significant. Menhaden, or mossbunker, are the principle catalyst for extraordinary feeding frenzies through summer into autumn by bluefish, striped bass, harbor seals, and in 2016, a humpback whale.
Using sandworms and cut-bait, our rod and reel catch total was 13 fishes of five species and included white perch, striped bass (470 mm), brown bullhead, white catfish (460 mm), and American eel. All fish were released. The water temperature was about 68 degrees Fahrenheit (F), and the salinity was 4.0 parts-per-thousand (ppt). (Photo of students at Piermont courtesy of Peter Park)
– Peter Park
4/26 – Minerva, HRM 284: This was not a great late-winter/early spring season for maple syrup. Despite our efforts, the weather did not cooperate, and we only realized 40 ounces of dark, sweet syrup. Last year we boiled down enough sap to yield a half-gallon (64 ounces) of syrup.
– Mike Corey
4/26 – Town of Poughkeepsie: As a result of a steady, varied, and nutritional diet, the two nestlings in bald eagle nest NY62 were growing up fast … and they seemed to be getting along!
– Tom Lake
4/26 – Hudson River Estuary, HRM 0-133: Eel catches continued to rise as water temperatures warmed up and the migration season progressed. Sites that have been having daily catches in the thousands include Quassaick Creek, Black Creek, and Hannacroix Creek. Sites that have been having daily catches in the hundreds include Minisceongo Creek, Hunter’s Brook, Fall Kill, and Enderkill. Other sites have generally been catching less than 100 glass eels per day.
– Chris Bowser
4/26 – Hunter’s Brook, HRM 67.5: After weeks of high numbers, today, we had our lowest catch of glass eels this season – 53 plus ten elvers – in our overnight fyke net. As we picked the net, something amazing occurred. A common loon, possibly the one seen yesterday 200 feet downstream in Wappinger Creek, paddled up to us, keeping a reasonable distance.
– Mitch Manzo
[Loons are one of a handful of iconic species in our watershed whose presence authenticates remnants of wildness. Along with eagles, coyotes, ravens, moose, bobcats, and black bears, the common loon rekindles remembrances of kinder times, long ago. Tom Lake]
Spring-Summer 2019 Natural History Programs
Saturday, May 4 – 2:00- 6:00 PM
Love My Park Day
Norrie Point Environmental Education Center, Staatsburg
Volunteers from across the state will participate in cleanup, improvement, and beautification events at New York State parks and historic sites. Join us to celebrate New York’s park system by cleaning up park lands and beaches, planting trees and gardens, restoring trail and wildlife habitat, removing invasive species, and working on improvement projects.
Our highlighted park is Norrie Point Environmental Education Center. Projects available to volunteers include brush clearing, trash cleanup, and painting. And, if you need a break from working, you can go fishing off the back deck with the help of DEC experts (all gear provided). High tide will be 1:34 PM; low tide will be 7:45 PM.
Volunteers (all ages are welcome) can participate any time between 2:00 and 6:00 PM. Please bring garden gloves, loppers, rakes, wheelbarrows, water, and a snack.
Questions? Call: 845-889-4745 or E-mail: ann-marie.caprioli
To sign up, go to:
https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=2037f086-7c1306e7-203509b3-0cc47a6d17e0-87709335ecaa6965&u=https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=8f314fde-d31443bd-8f33b6eb-0cc47aa88e08-7ddd3a6dc6341704&u=https://www.ptny.org/events/i-love-my-park-day
Wednesday, July 10 – Thursday July 11 (9:00 AM – 5:00 PM)
2019 Teachers on the Estuary and Living Environment Institute
Wonders of Wetlands (15 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 the Wonders of Wetlands. Teachers will spend two days gaining valuable knowledge and learning new curricula. We will use interdisciplinary approaches with the guidance of experts like EPA Award Winner Chris Bowser.
Cost: $50.00 for materials, supplies, and refreshments (light dinner on Thursday)
To register, e-mail drew.hopkins
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
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. |
