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 II. Each month, we'll be adding another excerpt from the book that corresponds to the current month.

April, 1995
April 1, Ossining -- A sure sign of spring -- forsythia were in bloom. -- Christopher Letts
North Tarrytown (Sleepy Hollow) -- Just offshore, the Hudson was 45 degrees a key requisite temperature for the arrival of river herring. -- Tom Lake

April 5, Croton Point -- We had a "blow-out tide," with winds up to 30 mph from the northwest. Croton Point reef was exposed for 200 yards, something I had never seen before in 20 years of exploring the point. Waterfowl were all huddled close to the Croton Marsh out of the wind: American coot, Canada geese, canvasbacks, ruddy ducks, and buffleheads. The tide was low enough to expose the old piers, barge skeletons, and rock piles covered with living barnacles, proof that the ice floes, driven by the winter storms, had not reached that depth. -- Christopher Letts
Blow-Out Tide: This is a colloquial phrase used to describe an unusually low tide. Frank Parslow, Sr., a longtime commercial fisherman on the Hudson River, speaks of the "long ebb on the west wind," which empties out the bays and backwaters. Blow-out tides occur rather infrequently, when wind, tide, and other climatic elements combine to produce unusually prolonged seaward flow, resulting in large areas of exposed river bottom in nearshore shallows, marshes and tributaries.

April 6, Croton Point -- The entire north seawall was encased with 1 1/2 inches of ice formed by the spray from the pounding breakers. Drifts of ice were piled two feet deep along the north beach. The ferocious northwest wind of the last 48 hours just blew the water out of the lower river. I was able to walk dry shod a full 200 yards out onto Croton Point reef. It felt like I was walking on water. -- Christopher Letts

April 9, Tappan Zee -- When Robert Gabrielson, Jr. and Paulie Stanton picked their 1200-foot shad net at 4:30 a.m., they found 200 roe shad and 65 buck shad. The 3:1 ratio of female-to-male used to signal the peak of the spawning run. However, in recent years male shad have become so scarce (in the targeted year-classes) that even an early season 3:1 split represents a major improvement. -- Tom Lake

April 16, Nyack -- Bob Gabrielson reported half-eaten shad and striped bass coming up in his shad gill nets just below the Tappan Zee Bridge. Harbor seals?
Harbor seal: We knew from historic accounts that harbor seals were a frequent visitor to the Hudson tidewater. Hudson River Almanac contributors have begun to document specific instances in order for to better understand the harbor seals' relationship with the Hudson. Mike Mulligan reported seeing six harbor seals hauled out on the rip-rap at Rockland Light.

April 22, Tarrytown-Nyack -- Dogwood were in bloom on both sides of the Tappan Zee. -- Christopher Letts

April 30, Croton River -- We were pursuing American shad in the tidal Croton just above Van Cortlandt Manor. We caught several there in April 1990 and 1993 (including two roe shad, 20 - 22 inches long) while striped bass fishing. We used shad darts today and caught yellow perch, striped bass, and alewives, but no shad. -- Rudy Fasciani.