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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.
November, 1995 Finally a 15-pound carp lay flopping on the sand, glistening in the afternoon light, all the colors of autumn reflecting from glittering scales. Someone assured me once that to calm a carp you put your fingers in its mouth, as you would give a baby a pacifier. Maybe it requires technique; it didn't work on this fish. After a minute of observation and discussion I slid the fish back into the river, and we watched it swim away. -- Christopher Letts November 7 - Croton Point - After a beautiful sunrise, the river and sky quickly clouded over-pewter was the color of the day. The dozen ruddy ducks I saw 15 days ago were now 50 in number. The three buffleheads from 8 days ago were now a flock of 40 birds. Song sparrows and white-throats were still singing this morning, and a last wave of robins pulsed through the treetops toward the south tip of the point. -- Christopher Letts November 14 - Bear Mountain Bridge - We spotted a peregrine falcon on the northwest side of the bridge perched on the handrail and main cable. -- Rich Vacek, Jim Long, Ed Monroe Nyack Beach State Park - Following a nor'easter that had come up the coast and dumped heavy rain, salinity was down to 3.1 ppt, and water temperature was 48§F. In contrast to a couple of weeks ago, our seine was empty. Several hauls produced only a dozen or so young-of-the-year striped bass (80-100 mm), a like number of small white perch, and a rock the size of a football encrusted with bay barnacles-some of the largest we had seen this year (15 mm diameter). -- Tom Lake November 20 - Croton Point - Down on the tideline the recent storms and high tides had rearranged the furniture and swept the beach clean. Things I had been accustomed to for years had vanished-huge tree trunks, stumps, the pieces of old barges and docks. In turn, they had been replaced by other trash and treasures. My pickup truck was loaded to the max with prime pieces of driftwood as I headed home-stovewood from far-off places along the river. For more than a half mile along the westward face of the point, the banks had been newly cut and washed by the waves-in some places to a height of 5-6'. The varves of sediments laid down annually during the reign of the Wisconsin glacier show clearly, like growth lines on a tree. Winter clay, summer clay, stacked up as high as my head. The displaced clay covers the beach cobbles for a half mile, in chunks and blobs. Stepping in the gooey stuff is annoying at first. Then I discover that, gum-shoed, traction on the slick and algae-covered cobbles improves and I can make my way to the tip of the point on more secure footing. -- Christopher Letts November 21 - Croton Point - Cal Greenberg reported sighting a short-eared owl at the edge of the landfill. November 30 - Croton Point - I saw my first eagle of the year at Croton Point, a mature bald eagle surveying the raft of waterfowl in Croton Bay. Canvasbacks, ring-necked ducks, and goldeneyes put in their first appearances today. Forty horned larks were picking the gravel on the service road. A novel sighting was a flock of cardinals in a thicket of catbriar and multiflora rose, then again on the ground in the open long enough for me to count at least eight. -- Christopher Letts
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