The almanac uses observations written by naturalists, river lovers of all ages, and scientists to assemble a journal of the river's unique moments.

The almanac is printed by Purple Mountain Press, Ltd., (800-325-2665) and is lavishly illustrated by Marlena Marallo. It is available for $10, plus New York State sales tax, and $3.50 for shipping. E-mail address is: Purple@mail.catskill.net

These excerpts are taken, with permission from the publisher, from the Hudson River Almanac, Volume III. Each month, we'll be adding another excerpt from the book that corresponds to the current month.

February 1997
February 1 - George's Island - One person described it as an "orthinological Woodstock!" Nearly 1,000 people gathered along the river at George's Island to view the bald eagles. And they were not disappointed. What had been publicized as a public program had turned into an eagle festival. An adult bald eagle perched on an oak limb within 150 yards of our spotting scopes and remained there for at least three hours, prompting some to wonder if we had glued its talons to a limb. While that eagle was the centerpiece, at least a half dozen immature eagles and other adults provided the entertainment. Nearly half of the crowd had never seen an eagle -- very few of the children in particular. When a six-year-old looks through a 40X spotting scope at their first bald eagle 100 yards away, and the eagle looks back, a connection is made that can last a lifetime.

The crowd got excited with a quietening hush as three immature bald eagles played a game of "wing tag" several hundred feet offshore. After a couple of minutes they disappeared over the top of Dogan Point. Three immatures were spotted riding a very large ice floe upriver. One eagle had a meal, possibly a duck or a fish, and to protect it from the others, cowered over it using its wings as curtains. Right in the middle of a talk on the life history of bald eagles, as if on cue, an immature eagle dropped down overhead within 100', circled the crowd several times, and then headed off east. -- Christopher Letts, Adriana Baker, Erica Schmidt, Juliana Taube, Donna Stapleton, Darwin Stapleton, Andra Sramek, Tom Lake

February 3 - Annsville Bay - I saw and heard two red-winged blackbirds along the bay. This is the earliest I have ever seen them -- never mind the groundhog. -- Robert Vargo Sr.

February 4 - Lake Meahagh - There were hundreds of mixed greater black-backed and ring-billed gulls on the ice feeding on gizzard shad. Three immature and two bald eagles perched in the trees along the edge. As if they knew it was their turn, the eagles lifted off, the gulls spiraled skyward in anxious disarray, and positions were switched. The eagles took over the gizzard shad; the gulls moved down the lake to watch.

The adults and juveniles intently fed on the frozen gizzard shad. The adults seemed more experienced, at least more "mature" about it. They would stand on the gizzard shad -- grasped in their talons -- and tear away at it with their beak. The juveniles spent much of their time hopping up and down and posturing next to the adults, as though begging for a handout. That pair of immature and the one adult may have been a family. The fish carcasses were inbedded just below the surface of the ice and apparently it took an experienced eagle to dislodge them. In their typical manner of lumbering around on the ice in their fancy feathered leggings, the eagles looked quite intoxicated. -- Phyllis Lake, Tom Lake

February 12 - Verplanck to Croton River - I spent my lunch hour driving along this six-mile stretch of Westchester shore, scanning the treeline and moving ice with a spotting scope. In less than an hour I spotted one bald eagle at Lake Meahagh, nine off Verplanck, eight at George's Island, seven off Senasqua Park, and three on Croton Bay. -- Christopher Letts

February 13 - Croton Bay - Brilliant sunshine reflecting from the white tail of a bald eagle flying low over Croton Bay caught our eye from a coach of a southbound Metro North train pulling away from Croton Harmon station. The bird, headed north toward the peninsula, provided us with a spectacular sight for about thirty seconds. It appeared that the feathers of the eagle's head had not yet turned white. -- Jim Anzevino, Steve Rosenberg

February 14 - Garrison - Valentine's Day - The peony bushes are up a half-inch out of the soil already -- much earlier than last year. -- Andra Sramek

February 20 - Tappan Zee - John and Tim Long submitted photos of two bottlenose dolphins -- one adult, one immature -- taken in the vicinity of the Tappan Zee Bridge on February 20. The pair seemed to be engaged in typical healthy dolphin behavior: synchronized breaching, arching, and reentering in tandem. The photos were examined by Erik Kiviat of Hudsonia Ltd. and Dennis Thoney of the New York Aquarium. They concluded that these were indeed bottlenose dolphins. However, the timing of the visit by bottlenose dolphins was in question. We wondered if they could have been in the Hudson River in late February, when the water temperature was 35 degrees F.

David Steadman of the Florida Museum of Natural History, an expert on marine mammal life history, was asked for his opinion. He believes that it is possible for bottlenose dolphins to be in the Hudson River in February so long as the area of the river in which they were observed is free of ice.

February 21 - Croton Point - What a glorious nature-filled day! It started off with the sounds of the first killdeer of the season. Then, while hiking along the river, I came face to face with a beautiful and very unconcerned red fox. Later there was a harbor seal hauled out on the rocks at Enoch's Neck, and, as I squatted to watch, an immature bald eagle flew out of a nearby tree directly over the seal. What a glorious sight to behold! -- Brenda Freeman-Bates