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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.
Dec. '95-Jan.'96 December 20 - Dutchess County: A major snowstorm deposited between 8 - 12" of snow in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Gene Martin Bear Mountain Bridge: In the midst of the snowstorm, Rich Vacek reported a peregrine falcon flying near the east end of the bridge. December 21 - Garrison: Eric Lind reported sighting two immature bald eagles and one female harrier (marsh hawk) sawing over the Constitution Marsh Sanctuary. December 30 - Garrison: Eric Lind reported seeing one adult and one immature bald eagle over Constitution Marsh at 8 a.m. Later, while on our Audubon Christmas Bird Count, we spotted two ravens in the company of ten crows over the sanctuary. They had flushed a barred owl out of the trees and were thoroughly abusing the raptor. The owl would roll on its back in mid-air -- talons poised in defense -- only to be relentlessly attacked. From a height of 200' they methodically dive-bombed the owl, finally driving it down into the cattails. Just then a red-tailed hawk came by. The ravens immediately gave up the chase and went off to bother the hawk. -- Jim Rod, Eric Lind, Lew Kingsley, et al. Putnam County: The Audubon Christmas Bird Count produced some interesting results for Putnam County. We recorded 78 species, a high number, but only half the number of individual birds that were seen last year. A Bird Count record of nine bald eagles was sighted, as were nine ravens. John Askildsen documented a red-necked grebe, a rare sighting (a first for the Bird Count) in a small patch of open water on Lake Gleneida in Carmel. -- Jim Rod
January, 1996 January 4 - Garrison: Eric Lind reported sighting an immature bald eagle over the Constitution Marsh Sanctuary at 3:30 p.m. Anthony's Nose: The 6 a.m. temperature was frigid and the Wolf Moon of January started to slide down behind the Palisades on the west bank over Iona Island as I drove to work. I wondered how the wild turkeys were holding up, having to subsist on the barren pickings being offered through the crusted snow cover on the hills and valleys ... Fortunately my office is on the banks of the Hudson and when I look out my window I can see the resident flock of some 35 wild turkeys with a few white-tailed deer mixed in going through their early morning ritual of coming off the roost and huddling on the hillside waiting for that first ray of warmth to peak over Annsville Creek. Only then will they scratch the snow. Some will fly into the tops of the 40 - 50' trees to forage on the ever-present bittersweet berries. It is not their food of preference but something that will keep them alive. -- Robert Vargo Sr. January 20 - Garrison: There was one adult bald eagle at the Constitution Marsh Sanctuary today. Three male eastern bluebirds were also seen. -- Jim Rod January 22 - Croton Point: The fourth day of the Big Thaw. The point was still encased in river ice solid enough to walk out on, and the warm air flowing over the ice had the whole park whited out. An unprecedented amount of debris poked from the ice or rode on it. This was going to be the best year ever for spring beach-combing. Mourning doves, titmice, and cardinals are singing and chipmunks had reappeared. -- Christopher Letts January 23 - Cold Spring: The tide had begun to ebb, yet the river was till at the level of the village pier. The 46 mute swans along the shore -- at least eight of which were juveniles -- seemed oblivious to the sudden dynamics of the river. The water was bronze-colored, a testament to the increased sediment load from the flooding in the watershed. -- Tom Lake Doodletown Bight: The meadows of Iona Marsh as well as Doodletown Bight were frozen solid. An immature bald eagle was perched in a sycamore along the railroad tracks, keeping watch over a vast expanse of white. -- Tom Lake January 24 - Garrison: A female sharp-skinned hawk killed, plucked and ate a European starling just outside the window. Down in Foundry Cove, a pair of black ducks were seen. -- Jim Rod January 25 - Croton Point: A biting 30-mph north wind hit me as I stepped out of the truck, and the sting did not abate as I trekked up the face of the landfill. I got to the top just as the sun peeked over Ossining to the south, and just a minute later I watched an adult bald eagle soar over the marsh below, then disappear to the west beneath the tree line. I reached the line of tall conifers a few minutes later as three adult eagles flew off. To the south I watched as five eagles hung almost motionless in the air over Croton Point reef on the south tip of the peninsula. One of them was an adult. I am confident I saw at least eight different birds. Some of the biggest ice floes I have seen in the Hudson were present, and a couple looked to stand at least eight feet in height. They were stranded on the tide flats on the south side of the Point. The reef itself looked like a train wreck of ice floes, with a line of floes grounded by the low tide and following the curving line of the reef more than 200 yards out from shore. -- Christopher Letts
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