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). It is available for $10, plus New York State sales tax, and $3.50 for shipping. E-mail address is: Purple@mail.catskill.net

Limited copies of The Hudson River Almanac: Volume II are also available at the same price. Volumes I and III are sold out.

These excerpts are taken, with permission from the publisher, from the Hudson River Almanac, Volume IV, 1997-98. Each month, we'll be adding another excerpt from the book that corresponds to the current month.

September 1997
September 3 - Croton Point - Cal Greenburg was walking along the road that parallels the tidemarsh to the south and the wine cellars to the north when he came upon an adult diamondback terrapin crossing the road. Cal thought this to be peculiar, since it was late in the summer for this turtle to be looking for a nesting site. He released it back into the marsh.

September 6 - Ossining - Henry Gourdine caught a 22 lb. bluefish -- a fish of trophy proportions -- in the Tappan Zee on a chunk of menhaden.

September 9 - Croton Point - Kim McKown and the NYSDEC seining crew caught a bevy of unusual marine fishes today: inshore lizardfish, stargazers, winter flounder (66 mm) tautog, and others. The water temperature was 76¼F; salinity was 9.0 ppt.

September 11 - Croton Point - My favorite part of the Hudson is Croton Point, and seining, like when we caught fish, shrimp, and hogchokers. I also liked tasting the salt water because I had never tasted the Hudson River before. It tasted like Saltines. -- Allison Epstein, Mildred Strang Middle School, Yorktown Heights

September 12 - Croton Point - What a day to be in the air. Monarchs filed past us heading southwest; kestrels zig-zagged along the edges of the hill, hunting; and ospreys and marsh hawks - two each - patrolled the landfill. The river's salinity was 8.1 ppt. -- Tom Lake, Phyllis Lake

September 14 - Croton Point - It was 388 years ago today that Henry Hudson sailed past this spot, a peninsula the Indians called Senasqua. There may have been a great gathering of Algonkian-speaking people to watch the spectacle. Today had its own charm with a score of monarchs floating past, an osprey hovering over the river's edge at the seawall. The river's salinity at the top of the flood was 9.1 ppt. -- Tom Lake, Andra Sramek, Christopher Letts

September 15 - Croton Point - UFO! - It was a weekend-long festival and hundreds were gathered at Croton Point Park. We were celebrating Hudson River blue crabs, New York State wines, and the beautiful late-summer weather. At the conclusion of a natural history program a woman approached me with a question. She gave a furtive glance to her left and right to see if anyone else was within earshot. Satisfied that none was, she began her story. One morning in late spring she was taking the Metro North commuter train south to New York City. Near Dobbs Ferry, she was looking out the window at the river when she saw something huge leap out of the water and then reenter with an explosive splash. She looked up and down the car to see if anyone else had seen it -- no one had. All heads were buried in the morning newspaper. For three months she had carried the experience with her, uncertain as to whether she should tell her husband, unable to share it with friends. Listening to my program "exotic marine creatures" must have kindled hope in her that I might be trusted with the story. Her description was vivid, her memory crystal clear: It was about 10' long, shaped like a small submarine, and looked like nothing she had ever seen. She thought to herself, "Sea monster? UFO? Aliens?" My explanation was pretty simple - she had seen a sturgeon. Adult Atlantic sturgeon are the largest fish to regularly visit the Hudson, and seeing them leap from the river in such display is not uncommon. As she looked at me, I could see a great look of relief come over her and she smiled, for the first time during our conversation. She thanked me, I turned to get a cold drink, and she was gone - dissolved in the crowd. I never got her name. -- Tom Lake

September 20 - Croton Point - Walking along the side of the Croton Point landfill to the eastern end, I saw my first ever western kingbird in a low solitary tree. Facing west, the bird's yellow belly glowed. -- Larry Bickford

September 21 - Sleepy Hollow - It was the last day of summer. A cold front had passed in the night and gave us a bright-blue sky with a strong north wind. The wind pushed broad-winged hawks overhead, spiraling up and over the Tappan Zee. -- Andra Sramek, Christopher Letts, Tom Lake

September 28 - Croton Point - Forty program-goers watched as we hauled our seine through the last of the water milfoil and wild celery. Our catch: several naked gobies (40 mm), several silver perch (95 mm) - both firsts for 1997. Less unusual were fourspine sticklebacks, Atlantic tomcod, and many young-of-the-year American shad and alewives. The most interesting member of the catch was a yearling blueback herring (122 mm). These are not supposed to be there! The water temperature was 69F, salinity was 6.9 ppt. -- Christopher Letts, Phil Levine, John Lambert, Tom Lake