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.

September 1996
September 1 - Croton Point - Half a dozen osprey soared, patrolled and perched. Not one was carrying a fish, nor did I even see one of the birds plunge. Marsh wrens have stopped singing. A least bittern and a green heron flushed from underfoot -- wonderful close sightings in the good morning light. Pink was the color of the day, and the lush flowers of the rose mallow were complemented by displays of saltmarsh fleabane and field bindweed, splendid against the green of the reeds. Eight great blue herons stood in a few inches of water, twenty yards out, not willing to budge even when a kayak passed close by them en route to the Croton River. Christopher Letts

September 11 - Yonkers - Mike Bochnik sighted two parasitic jaegers - one adult, one juvenile - at 9:15 a.m. at Lenoir Preserve in Yonkers. These are very rare birds in the Hudson Valley.

September 12 - Cold Spring to New Hamburg - Henry Hudson sailed up this river 387 years ago today. What is left of that which Henry and his crew found along the river? He certainly saw the colors of late summer wildflowers. The hillside that was a blanket of yellow coltsfoot in April was now equally orange with spotted touch-me-not, a native wildflower.

The waterfowl remain, as the waders, gulls and shorebirds. The assemblage of hardwoods and conifers along the river comprise essentially the same mix with a few exceptions. Fish fauna has changed with the development of the watershed. Several species have become rare, and many new ones have been added through introductions and canal immigration. But the sun still rises over Breakneck Ridge, shines over a viable flowing river, and sets over Storm King -- a sequence that has endured. Tom Lake

Yonkers - Julia Reich of the Beczak Center, along with Debra Spangler and Wil Campbell (OKEANOS), collaborated in the rescue/recovery of a yearling hooded seal from the beach at Yonkers, just above the Saw Mill confluence. The seal was first spotted at 1 p.m., swimming normally just offshore by Ada Serrano and John Carver. As John lay on the seawall it surfaced about 3' away. It sounded and resurfaced 5-6 seconds later 30' away. The seal was spotted by Yonkers dockmaster Frank Kendrick at 2 p.m., still apparently swimming with good energy. However, at 3:30 p.m. it had hauled out onto the beach. Low tide was 4:04 p.m. and with a new moon, the river was quickly rising (5.1 tide range). The seal had only a foot of beach left when OKEANOS arrived at 6 p.m. We placed a 50' beach seine between the seal and the river to help it maintain its position, and also prevent escape. The seal seemed thoroughly exhausted, though not exhibiting any outward trauma. Whenever we approached it would open its eyes; if we got too close it would hissss and snarl. Water temperature was 77 degrees F and salinity was 12.8 ppt. Julia Reich, Andy Wodac, Bob Walters, Tom Lake, Angel Casanova

September 14 - Peekskill - At 12:45 p.m. you could not launch a boat at Peekskill. The entire boat launch had disappeared in the river. Despite a beautiful blue-sky day and a north wind, the river spilled over into the flood plain as high tide peaked along the Hudson. This was a storm surge associated with the latest of our tropical storms Hurricane Hortense. Tom Lake

September 16 - Ossining - Length of daylight had been waning and water temperatures had been dropping, and the Atlantic menhaden - principle forage of many predators from osprey to bluefish -- seemed to have left the inshore waters of the Tappan Zee. Henry Gourdine reported that some fishermen were now catching them out in the deeper water of the channel, and they had grown impressively during their summer in the bay. "Don't call them bunker any more," Henry remarked. "Call them buck shad!" Christopher Letts

September 22 - Croton Point - We were on the beach in a driving rainstorm to welcome autumn and see who was home in the shallows of Haverstraw Bay. Among our catch was a 5 3/4" white sucker, and yoy American shad (80 mm) and striped bass (64-126 mm). A pair of kingfishers perched on bare limbs overhanging Enoch's Neck, alternately diving-fishing in the shallows at low tide. They would dive in a free-fall reminiscent of an osprey. Soon the flood tide made their pool too deep for diving so they took off on a raucous race across the little bay. The water temperature was 72 degrees F; salinity was 6.2 ppt. Tom Lake, Christopher Letts

September 25 - Anthony's Nose - During his hawk watch from 8 a.m.-3 p.m., Marc Breslav reported 174 raptors, among which were 58 sharp-shinned hawks, 26 osprey, 13 American kestrels, and one gold eagle.