| OVERVIEW
There was a huge surge, up the valley this week, of migratory raptors. Spring colors were slowly coming into the uplands, and nestling bald eagles were sprouting like the new growth of spring.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
 4/27 – Troy, HRM 151.5: We were on the Poestenkill today to remove a trial glass eel fyke net we had installed. After nine days, our total was five elvers and one glass eel (we were so excited to see that one glass eel!). While removing the net, we noticed glittery flashes of herring scales in the water. Bending down to look at them closer, I realized that the bottom of the stream wasn’t covered in granular sand, but in billions of herring eggs. There were herring eggs everywhere, from the damp rocks we were standing on, to the rip-rap up the bank where high tide has reached. Sinking our fingers into a quiet pool, we found several inches of eggs. The source of the eggs became apparent when the stream would break into a flurry of action, and the herring tails, probably alewives, would surface, flitting back and forth in the current. Two weeks ago, these herring were just arriving from the sea. Despite the drizzly spring day, we were reminded of how rich this estuary is, in terms of life and beauty. (Photo of river herring eggs (roe) courtesy of Gracie Ballou)
– Gracie Ballou, Aiden Mabey
NATURAL HISTORY ENTRIES
4/21 – Newcomb, HRM 302: From the Goodnow Mountain Fire Tower, Huntington Wildlife Forest, our remote camera was able to look down on Rich Lake (elevation 2,265 feet). The lake was still frozen, nearly bank to bank.
– Charlotte Demers
4/21 – Warren County, HRM 230: We went for a walk along the shore of Lake George, at first light. Since every day ought to be Earth Day, this was ours. The air, the water, and the forest never seemed more vital. The ice had fully gone out a couple of days ago, and the water temperature was a frigid 40 degrees Fahrenheit (F). We shared sunrise with three common loons in breeding plumage. We heard tremolos, a loon call when it is alarmed or to announce its presence. Anglers were out once again, trolling for landlocked salmon and lake trout. The loons were “trolling” as well.
– Tom Lake, Phyllis Lake
[Loons “troll with their eyes,” peering beneath the surface, looking for fish as they slowly swim along, before beginning their dive. In Europe, they are called the “Great Northern Diver.” This behavior – including their four distinct calls: hoots, tremolos, wails, and yodels – is beautifully described in John McPhee’s Survival of the Bark Canoe. Tom Lake]
 4/21 – Millbrook, HRM 82: We found our first baby snapping turtle of the season, coming out of the forest on Oak Summit Road, where it hatched. There is a swamp across the road, the likely home for its parents. Twice in the last three years, we have found hatchling snapping turtles wandering in other places and released them into this wetland. (Photo of snapping turtle hatchling courtesy of Susanne Lake)
– T.R. Jackson, B.J. Jackson
4/21 – Town of Poughkeepsie: The two nestlings in bald eagle nest NY62 were 30-days old today. It was interesting to observe how life was going on with the four of them: food deliveries, nest refurbishing including new grass and sticks, and nap time for the nestlings.
– Deborah Tracy-Kral
4/21 – Bedford, HRM 35: The great blue heron rookery was quiet, with 17 herons incubating eggs. One heron that was incubating, stood up and put its head down in the nest repeatedly, most likely turning the eggs over. The first heron hatching may occur in a couple of weeks.
– Jim Steck
4/21 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: Broad-winged hawks (214) dominated the migrating raptors at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch today, representing 85% of the total count. Next high count for raptors was sharp-shinned hawks with ten.
– Steve Walter
4/21 – Manhattan, HRM 13.5: A scrubby slope, along Payson Avenue at Inwood Hill Park, was covered with leaves of Star-of-Bethlehem; it seemed to have spread tenfold in a couple of years, but no flowers yet. A Yoshino cherry was full of white blossoms, but the nearby crabapples, that have blossomed at about the same time in past years, were not yet budding. A red maple and a pink weeping cherry were full-blown and lovely.
On the path, up through the Clove, mats of lesser celandine had a few flowers, and little blossoms of spicebush were all through the woods. There were a few cotyledons of jewelweed and several big patches of Dutchman’s-breeches, with a few flowers beginning to open. I think this is the only place they grow on Manhattan. Up on the ridge, forsythia was blooming, and periwinkles were glowing in all the sunny places. The leaves of day-lily were now about a foot high; it had spread explosively since last year. Leaves of true celandine and herb-robert were plentiful. On my way down from the ridge, I passed a single budding hawthorn; the contrast between the pink buds and fierce thorns was striking.
– Thomas Shoesmith
[Star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum) grows from little bulbs that look like cocktail onions. On this slope, winter rains have washed much of the soil away, especially near the bottom, leaving many bulbs exposed on the surface. Since it began putting out leaves a couple of weeks ago, contractile roots have pulled the bulbs into the soil, so now none are to be seen! Thomas Shoesmith]
4/22 – Hyde Park, HRM 82: I was walking the lower trail at Vanderbilt Estate and went off the beaten path, into the woods, to watch two pileated woodpeckers work on a log. A pine warbler landed on a branch nearby, and then, minutes later, I spotted an eastern bluebird. As I moved to the edge of the woods, I heard a bubbly song and noticed a brown-headed cowbird. Everyone was enjoying the sunny spring morning!
– Karen Becke
4/22 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: From the moment we arrived, we had continuous migratory hawk activity, until the last hour, when it tapered off. Broad-winged hawks (723), once again, dominated the migrating raptors at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch, representing 94% of the total count. Next high count for raptors was sharp-shinned hawks with 17.
– Ajit I. Antony, Felicia Napier, Liza Antony
4/23 – Town of Poughkeepsie: The two nestlings in bald eagle nest NY62, now 32 days old, were showing impressive growth. They were now “partridge-size.”
– John Badura
 4/23 – Verplanck, HRM 40.5: We had some good, early-season, fortune today, fishing for striped bass on the rising tide. Using bloodworms, the three of us each managed to catch a striped bass. They ranged in size from 20-22 inches. (Photo of striped bass courtesy of Ed McKay)
– Ed McKay, Hope McKay, Hunter McKay
[Angling regulations on striped bass in the estuary are one fish, per person, per day, 18 – 28-inches, or one fish greater than 40-inches. The season runs April 1 to Nov. 30. For more information on Tidal Hudson River fishing and license requirements visit: https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/88762.html. Tom Lake]
4/23 – Verplanck, HRM 40.5: For the past few weeks, we have been watching osprey build their nest on the channel marker. They have been scouring the area for sticks, even breaking off twigs from some of the treetops. We could actually hear some of the snapping sounds. Their nest is now a great mishmash. They were on the nest today, and we could hear them calling to one another.
– Dianne Picciano
4/23 – 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. In one of our killifish traps, we found two northern pipefish, 115 and 130 millimeters (mm).
– Toland Kister, Siddhartha Hayes, Illusion Rivera, Shania Deonarine
[Note: one inch = 25.4 millimeters (mm)]
4/24 – Town of Saugerties, HRM 102: Several first-of-season butterflies, spring azures, were actively flying in my yard today. The one that briefly settled on some mud was a marginata morph.
– Steve M. Chorvas
 4/24 – Hunter’s Brook, HRM 67.5: It was a very good afternoon at Hunter’s Brook, as Jennifer Hansen and her Wappinger Junior High students were there, to check the glass eel fyke. Our final tally was 266 glass eels and 14 elvers. The creek was 56.5 F. We spotted a few white sucker and alewives (herring), winding their way upstream, on their spawning run. (Photo of glass eels courtesy of Tom Lake)
– Jennifer Hansen, Tom McDowell, Tom Lake
[White suckers (Catostomus commersoni) are potamodromous, a life history of fishes that are born in Hudson River tributaries, migrate to the river to mature, and then return to the tributaries, as adults, to spawn. Tom Lake]
4/24 – Yonkers, HRM 18: We hosted a class today, from Riverdale Country School, at the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak. The focal point of our educational day was hauling our seine in the river. Our expectations were so low that our catch exceeded them: a shore shrimp, a sand shrimp, and a lovely juvenile striped bass (100 mm).
– Elisa Caref
4/24 – Staten Island, New York City: While letting out my chickens for the day, I heard the call of a common loon. I looked up and there it was, flying overhead, standing out beautifully, against the clear blue sky. This was an adult in full breeding colors, calling all the way, as it headed southeast toward the Lower Bay of New York Harbor. I was immediately transferred back to my youth and vacations spent at lakes in the Adirondacks.
– Sean Gannon
[Sean heard the tremolo call of the common loon. The call sounds like a quavering laugh, and it is the only one of their four distinct calls that it gives while flying. Tom Lake]
4/25 – Denning’s Point, HRM 60: Our DEC Region 3 Hudson River Fisheries Unit, as part of our spawning stock survey, electro-fished (passing a current through the water to temporarily stun fish so they can be netted) in the bay, on the east side of Denning’s Point. In addition to striped bass, white suckers, carp, and river herring, we caught a foot-long brown trout. We figured it must have snuck out of Fishkill Creek, where they are stocked upstream. We admired it, measured it, and put it back. [Angling regulations on brown trout are April 1 to October 15, five per day, any size.]
– Amanda Higgs
[Brown trout (Salmo trutta) are native to Europe, from the Arctic fjords of Scandinavia, eastward, to the Hindu Kush, at the foot of the Himalayas. Brown trout were introduced into New York State in February 1883, from a population from the Black Forest of Germany. Brown trout may be the most famous freshwater game fish in the world. They first appear in the literature, when described by 3rd century A.D. Roman naturalist Claudius Aelianus, as “the fish with speckled skin.” Legendary seventeenth century angler, Izaak Walton, simply called them “The Trout.” Austrian composer Franz Schubert’s classic Die Forelle (The Trout) was inspired by the brown trout. Cecil Heacox describes them as, “… a delight to the eye, exciting to the mind, and stimulating to the spirit.” Tom Lake]
4/25 – Manhattan, HRM 1: When we checked our collection gear in Hudson River Park at The River Project’s sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25, we found a beautiful blackfish/tautog, (220 mm) in one of the crab pots.
– Siddhartha Hayes, Illusion Rivera, Shania Deonarine
4/26 – Warren County, HRM 259: It is amazing how patient migrating birds can be, and willing to live with much human activity. This afternoon, I came upon a great egret in a wetland, at Pottersville. The egret was hanging out, very close to a very active, small-log, milling operation. It was a fine-looking and relaxed egret!
– Mike Corey
 4/26 – Town of Saugerties, HRM 102: I decided to check a known colony site for juniper hairstreaks, figuring they should be at or near the peak of their first flight. I was not disappointed, finding at least 15 individual butterflies, all in fresh condition. Males were dog-fighting around their host plant, eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana). There was little in the way of ground source nectar for them, within sight of the colony. (Photo of juniper hairstreak butterfly courtesy of Steve M. Chorvas)
– Steve M. Chorvas
4/26 –Town of Poughkeepsie, HRM 70: Frequent sightings of hunting, by an adult fox, led us to believe we had a family of red foxes on our property. Today, we spotted four kits coming in and out from under our shed, out playing, but not straying very far. Soon after, the mother appeared, carrying a gray squirrel. When she saw me, she ran a short way into the woods and proceeded to bark at me. Not trusting humans is a wise and instinctive reaction. Within a short period of time, she came back with two more squirrels. Later, I saw the mother chase off another fox. She chased it down, through the woods, at a rapid rate of speed! These foxes are fascinating to watch.
– Doreen Tignanelli
4/26 – Town of Poughkeepsie: The two nestlings in bald eagle nest NY62, now 35 days old, continued getting the-fish-of-the-day (often it has been the-fishes-of-the-day). Today, the male slowly lowered himself down into the nest like a helicopter, with a large channel catfish in tow. The nestlings looked up as the fish descended, probably in wonder, tinged with a never-satisfied hunger.
– John Badura
4/26 – Beacon, HRM 61: This was a day when I had to be content without catching a carp or a goldfish. Five channel catfish (the largest was 5 pounds, 5 ounces) helped, along with two brown bullheads. All were released. As an aside, brown bullheads are native catfish; channel catfish, native to more western watersheds, were introduced.
– Bill Greene
[In last week’s Almanac we noted that goldfish, in the wild, can grow to 14-inches and weigh a couple of pounds. Checking the Almanac, we found that Bill Greene, on November 8, 2016, caught a bright, 14-inch goldfish at Beacon. Tom Lake]
4/26 – Piermont Pier, HRM 25: I took my Nyack College Fishing Club students fishing today, on an end-of-semester field trip. The students caught nine fish including white catfish (5), white perch (2), striped bass (1), and an American eel that probably weighed 2.0 pounds. For some of the students, it was their first-time fishing, and by trip’s end, they had caught their first-ever fish.
– Peter Park
4/26 – Yonkers, HRM 18: Today, we welcomed a fourth-grade class from Riverdale Country School, at the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak. The students were very excited, although we cautioned that their enthusiasm might be curtailed by the cold water. But, then they cheered, as we landed 27 juvenile Atlantic silversides, all about 40 (mm) and veritable jewels in the net.
– Elisa Caref
4/27 – Minerva, HRM 284: Spring had arrived, in the foothills of the High Peaks of the Adirondacks … sort of. We had singing song sparrows, small crowds of red-winged blackbirds, and I heard several eastern phoebes. There was also one wispy little brown creeper. I could not see the bird, but I knew the song. Meanwhile, in the back forty, although there was very little snow and ice left in the woods, the pond was still iced in. The dark green narrow leaves of Canada mayflower were coming up through the cold ground. I had heard no spring peepers or wood frogs yet, but have seen a few scattered robins.
– Mike Corey
4/27 – Mid-Hudson Valley, HRM 67: While spring color is primarily green, we were treated this week to a soft, hazy-white glow in the forest: shadbush (Amelanchier sp.). This native species has been considered, colloquially, a harbinger of American shad arriving in the river, from the sea to spawn, as well as a dependable indicator of advancing springtime, inland, up the estuary.
– Tom Lake
[For thousands of years, people have measured springtime by the appearance of flowers and other flora, a process called phenology, the study of nature through the appearance of seasonal phenomena. Phenology comes from the Greek word phaino, meaning “to appear,” or the Latin phenomenon, meaning “appearance.” Those who worked on the river came to associate certain blooms with cryptic events, such as the shadbush and the arrival, from the sea, of shad and river herring. The springtime progression moves north, in an orderly manner, from magnolia to forsythia to shadbush to flowering dogwood, with lilac being the final sign that the Hudson Valley is ready for summer. Tom Lake]
4/27 – East Fishkill, HRM 66: Our black bear was back this evening, after dark, cleaning up some birdseed that wasn’t eaten during the day. Standing upright, reaching for the feeder, he looked seven-feet-tall. He was joined by opossum, a couple of raccoons, and a totally black skunk. My beautiful gray fox was also strolling in my backyard. He’s always magnificent looking, seeming well-fed and relaxed.
– Dianne Anderson
[The DEC released a Guidance to Homeowners on how to avoid problems with black bears. http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/113258.html]
4/27 – Yonkers, HRM 18: We went seining with our third class this week, at the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak. These were zoology students from New Visions High School, in the Bronx. From our hauls, we netted just one shore shrimp, until our final pull, when we caught two chubby mummichogs (killifish) and an Atlantic silverside. The river temperature was finally above 50 F, so maybe that’s why we’ve had some luck.
– Elisa Caref
SPRING 2018 NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS
Wednesday, May 9, 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Fishing the Hudson River
Norrie Point Environmental Center, Staatsburg
Would you like to try your hand at fishing in the Hudson, a river that has 228 different kinds of fish? Join our family-friendly angling program, sponsored by the DEC Hudson River Research Reserve and I Fish NY.
Free. All equipment provided. Angling is wheelchair accessible.
For more information contact James Herrington 845-889-4745 x109
Wednesday, May 23, 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Fishing the Hudson River
Norrie Point Environmental Center, Staatsburg
Would you like to try your hand at fishing in the Hudson, a river that has 228 different kinds of fish? Join our family-friendly angling program, sponsored by the DEC Hudson River Research Reserve and I Fish NY.
Free. All equipment provided. Angling is wheelchair accessible.
For more information contact James Herrington 845-889-4745 x109
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.
DEC’s Smartphone app for iPhone and Android is now available at: New York Fishing, Hunting & Wildlife App.
NY Open for Hunting and Fishing Initiative: Under Governor Cuomo’s Adventure NY initiative, DEC is making strategic investments to expand access to healthy, active outdoor recreation, connect more New Yorkers and visitors to nature and the outdoors, protect natural resources, and boost local economies. This initiative will support the completion of more than 75 projects over the next three years, ranging from improvements to youth camps and environmental education centers to new boat launches, duck blinds, and hiking trails. Read more about the Adventure NY initiative. For more information on planning an outdoor adventure in New York State, visit DEC’s website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor.
Information about the Hudson River Estuary Program is available on DEC’s website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4920.html.
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
