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The Hudson River Almanac
Chronicling the Life and Spirit of the River

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.

July 1996
July 3 - Garrison - I watched for several minutes as an osprey performed what appeared to be a courtship display flight over Constitution Marsh Sanctuary. It was flying in a repeated rise and fall pattern, while clutching an entire cattail plant, and all the while screaming its head off. The bird eventually dropped the cattail, calmed down and flew off. This was most likely mock display considering the late date and the fact that no other osprey was visible. Maybe it was a young male practicing for next year. Actually my first impression was that the cattail somehow got stuck in the bird's talons, and it was trying to shake it loose. The osprey was first sighted June 27 at Foundry Cove and has been seen regularly since. Eric Lind

July 20 - Garrison - The beautiful cardinal flower was in bloom today along Constitution Marsh. Eric Lind

July 25 - Garrison - Wild rice began to flower today in Constitution Marsh. Eric Lind

July 27 - Little Stony Point - After being closed for just about two years because of an unsafe bridge over the railroad tracks, Little Stony Point Park was officially reopened. It seemed very appropriate that we stood and sang "This Land is Your Land" with Pete Seeger, Vic Schwarz, and about one hundred twenty five river lovers until we were hoarse, inventing new verses, and celebrating a renewed access to the Hudson River. Richard Shea, Tom Lake

July 29 - Rockefeller Preserve, Pocantico River - The production of fruit and nuts this year is remarkable. Even the primrose and chicory flowers seem larger-than-life. Mullein stalks from 8 - 10' were everywhere, and the branches of walnut and hickory trees are bent over with their loads of nuts. Christopher Letts
Yonkers - Bob Walters reported that salinity in the Hudson at a depth of 4' was 7.00 ppt. This is considerably less than last summer. On July 27, 1995, salinity at a depth of 4' at the north side of Croton Point was 10.1 ppt. It is likely that salinity at Yonkers is half what it was in summer 1995.
Hudson Valley - This was the first July in nearly 100 years in which the air temperature did not reach 90¼ F. Total precipitation for the month was 11.45", nearly 30% of the 1996 total. In contrast, the Hudson Valley went 26 days without any precipitation in August of 1995. National Weather Service.

My life on the Hudson River in the 1930s
From an unpublished narrative by L. Ray Tuttle, to his children, Lloyd R. Tuttle, Jr., Gregory D. Tuttle, and Glenna E. Tuttle. Ray was a fishing partner of Henry Gourdine in the 1940s and 1950s. Ossining - While living in the houseboat during the summer, our main concern was fishing for carp. For this type of fish, we used seines, as the fish must be caught and kept alive. There were two seines that we used, one was 500' long, and the other was 1,000'. The 500' seine was used most of the time, as it was easy to handle.

There never seemed to be a reason, but whenever the mood hit Grandpa, he'd say, "Let's go." The boat then would be backed into the beach and pulled up slightly to prevent it from drifting off. The three of us (Grandpa, my brother Ralph, and I) would then place the loaded tray on the back of the boat. Either Ralph or I would row while the other sat in the bow looking for the fins of the carp which occasionally would protrude from the water. Sometimes, even if there was not a sighting, we'd throw the net anyway. I would jump overboard at the direction of Grandpop. He would hand me a staff attached to one end of the seine. I would drive the end attached to the leaded side of the net into the mud and hold the staff upright. As the boat was rowed in a large circle Grandpop threw the net out of the tray. When they returned to me Ralph would jump into the water with the staff from the other end of the net.

After anchoring the boat a short distance away, my grandfather would jump into the water and come over to where Ralph and I were. He would pull both sims (ropes), while Ralph and I would each pull a top sim. This was tedious and backbreaking work, but you could watch the circle getting smaller and smaller. As it got smaller, the activity would increase. Many of the carp would start jumping and often would jump completely over the net into freedom. We never dared curse, but Grandpop made up for it.

As the circle diminished, the fish would be forced into the bag of netting in the center of the seine. On one occasion, a large carp, in the neighborhood of 25 to 30 pounds, squeezed through the staffs that weren't closed together. I grabbed at the fish while Ralph grabbed at the staffs. I gripped the fish with both hands and locked my legs around the body. The fish was so powerful that it was actually swimming along with me on its back for a short distance. I would be sideways and upright long enough to catch a breath of air, but for a while the fish was in command. I was only a skinny little kid of twelve.