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.

December 16 - George's Island - Goose calls stretched thin caused me to search long to find the migrant flock so high they were just specks in the sky. I have seen more migrating Canada geese in December than October and November combined. Two other observers, Robin Fox and Cal Greenburg, have also noticed this seeming anomaly. -- Christopher Letts

December 21 - Croton Point - Winter Solstice - Winter arrived at 9:06 a.m., at which time the view from Sarah's Point down along the Croton Bay was unusually empty. There were no large rafts of canvasbacks or scaup. Here and there were pairs of buffleheads and common mergansers. It did not look or feel like winter. My attention was drawn to the crashing sound 150 feet up the Point. It sounded like scaffolding in a free-fall. Making its way out of a red oak was an immature bald eagle, and as it emerged it hit all the dry branches. Clear of the oak, it momentarily seemed to contemplate a nearby white pine, thought better, and winged away off across the Tappan Zee toward Hook Mountain.

Several dozen people joined us under an intensely blue sky for a winter solstice walk. In the sand on the beach eight-year-old Lauren Orlando found tracks of river otter and red fox -- recent tracks, possibly from the previous night. Passing Croton Marsh we heard a hollow rapping from within a dead stand of phragmites. Upon closer inspection with our binoculars, we could see a male downy woodpecker "pecking" at the stems of common reed. This behavior has been reported by Christopher Letts on several occasions. Are they searching for insects overwintering in the hollow stems. -- Tom Lake, Christopher Letts, Rick Kaufman

January 4 - Foundry Cove - Our attention was drawn overhead as a large raptor appeared. It was a dark-form rough-legged hawk heading north. Directly overhead it went into a series of spirals fanning its broad tail and showing off its "black wrists" as if to demonstrate its field marks for us. It was a rare sighting for the Christmas bird count. -- Jim Rod, Lee Parker, Sheila Ronca, Marie Furlan, Tom Lake

January 6 - Verplanck - Lake Meahagh is a 3/4-mile-long shallow lake. It is connected to the Hudson River and created by a spillway over a short dam into a tidal bay. The lake is several feet above sea level and river water rarely enters. Until the lake froze over in January, common and hooded mergansers, as well as ruddy ducks were seen regularly on the water. We also saw muskrats and river otter. People living around the lake became alarmed on January 6 when approximately 200-300 fish went belly-up just after the cold snap of New Year's and the onset of the first ice. An investigation determined that they were all one species, gizzard shad, and all similarly-sized (12-15 inches). Three immature and one bald eagle were on the new ice feeding on the dead fish. The Westchester County Health Department was called in to determine if this was a water quality issue. -- Nat Mills, Helja Mills, Christopher Letts

Stefan Goreau and Bill Schneider of the Westchester County Department of Health could find no evidence that poor water quality led to the demise of the gizzard shad.

January 10 - Buchanan - Blanche Nelson and her second graders at the Buchanan-Verplanck Elementary School had their faces glued to the windows with excitement for forty-five minutes watching an adult bald eagle perched in a hardwood tree right next to the school, close by the Hudson. The children and teachers were enthralled. Eventually the eagle took wing and flew off to the north.

January 15 - Ossining - Henry Gourdine recalled some mid-Januarys from fifty years ago: "This was the time of year that we would be on 'pins and needles' anticipating the first safe ice on the river so we could start commercial fishing. We would run up to Croton and watch the ice form along the shore. Once the ice was safe we'd walk out on the river with our axes and saws, cut some holes, and then lower our gill nets for striped bass. When the ice was thick enough, we drove our automobiles out onto the river."

January 19 - Garrison - Cedar waxwings, 24 of them, arrived today to eat the berries of our hawthorn trees at Boscobel. This was eight days earlier than in the previous three years. They show up for one afternoon, eat, and then are gone. -- Andra Sramak

January 31 - Croton Harmon - The whole valley has eagle fever! Earlier this week the Metro North guys called from the Croton-Harmon Railroad Yard to ask me what to do with a dead bald eagle picked up by track inspectors. It turned out to be an immature bird with a broken neck. It probably flew into a train, as it was found in the gauge of the tracks. I stood in the rain for half an hour as several dozen railroad men plied me with questions about eagles, and what I would do with this one. "Going to science," I told them. "Thanks for taking the time and trouble to get this bird into the proper hands." -- Christopher Letts

(A pathology report on February 28 from NYSDEC Wildlife Pathologist Ward Stone indicated that the eagle had died from "blunt impact trauma." It was a second year female bald eagle and had been in good condition. The feet, wings, and tail were saved for Native Americans.)