This E-Almanac will replace the printed Hudson River Almanac that many have enjoyed and will provide timely information in a readily accessible format to a wide audience.

The first newsletter, compiled by Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program Naturalist, covered the week of October 9-18, and captured one of the turning points of the year:
"Overnight on October 15, the High Peaks of the Adirondacks - headwaters of the Hudson - were transformed into a winterscape of white. The message was not lost on southbound migrants. This week saw an increase in the monarch migration and more raptors, particularly vultures. River temperatures dropped into the mid-50s, the point when exploring the Hudson in a bathing suit becomes problematic. Fall colors finally arrived over much of the Hudson Valley, from Newcomb to Nyack."

Submissions from a variety of observers at different locations follow:
October 13 - Kowawese, Town of New Windsor, HRM 59: A belted kingfisher scolded us and an immature bald eagle and a pair of great egrets watched from Cornwall Bay as we hauled our beach seine. This season seldom fails to remind us of the tremendous productivity of the Hudson estuary, and sure enough, scores of young-of-the-year blueback herring, American shad, and striped bass flopped in the wet folds of the net. The fish varied in size - some twice as large as others, born at different times over the spawning season. The river was a cool 61 degrees, with no trace of salinity.
- Mia & Ben Chrobot, Margaret Stanne, Davis & Lia Natzle, Ben Cuppett, Tom Lake

October 13 - Yonkers, HRM 18: Our Hudson Valley Audubon hawk watch results so far this year have been dismal. The numbers of all raptor species are down dramatically except for record sightings of bald eagles (31) and black vultures (13). Other hawk watch sites from the east coast to Minnesota are down as well.
- Joe O'Connell

October 14 - Yonkers, HRM 18: I counted nearly 300 monarch butterflies in less than two hours at the Lenoir Preserve - the most I have seen in three years. Our blue jay migration seems to have rebounded as well. Close to 5,000 jays have moved through Lenoir over the past three weeks. Since the West Nile virus struck several years ago, we have recorded only a few hundred in a season.
- Joe O'Connell

October 16 - Fort Montgomery, HRM 46.5: Crossing the Bear Mountain Bridge today, I looked north towards Con Hook and spotted a large kettle of vultures. [A kettle is a swirling group of hawks rising in a thermal - an updraft of warm air]. I pulled over on the far side to count them, but the birds were so densely packed that it was nearly impossible. At the top of the thermal birds began peeling off and gliding, one at a time, toward the southwest. I counted no fewer than 63. At the same time a little group of 12 started to spiral upward from Fort Montgomery.
- Scott Craven

October 17 - Englewood, NJ, HRM 13.5: The students from the Elisabeth Morrow School could hardly decide where to look first. From the cliffs came ospreys carrying fish in their talons. Ravens cruised past looking like giant Halloween birds, and an immature bald eagle soared overhead. Our seine net bulged with young-of-the-year striped bass and Atlantic menhaden, blue crabs, silversides, and white perch. Several dozen sand shrimp popped and jumped and eluded our attempts to scoop them back into the river. We tagged a yearling striped bass nearly a foot long, hoping to recover it years from now with a story to tell. The water temperature was 59°F; salinity was 7.2 parts per thousand (ppt). The next day the temperature was the same, but salinity had risen to 9.0 ppt. In addition to the species seen yesterday, we caught seven young-of-the-year winter flounder and a dozen blue crabs, a couple of which were softshells - crabs that had just molted.
- Leslie Day, Nancy Slowik, Terry Milligan, Christopher Letts, Tom Lake

October 29 - Hudson Highlands: We had heavy rain for the second time in three days. The 1.53" inches today made the three-day total 3.04". Other areas of the Hudson Valley had even more.
- Tom Lake

October 31 - Croton Point, HRM 35: Pulling our net across an open sandy bottom, we expected and got only a meager catch, the bulk of it leaves - oak, maple, and cottonwood. The best way to find life in an autumn net is to wait patiently until something moves among the leaves. Within seconds we saw shore shrimp popping like fleas off a hound dog, along with a few young of the year fish on their way to sea: alewives (70 mm); blueback herring (73 mm), American shad (75-92 mm) and striped bass (50-100 mm). Mixed in were a few small blue crabs no more than a month old, the color of ivy and the size of pencil erasers (7.0 mm). A second haul - over a rocky bottom, through remnants of water milfoil and water celery, and past a deadfall - produced resident fish: several dozen banded killifish, fourspine sticklebacks, and spottail shiners. The water was 56°F, and the salinity less than 2.0 ppt. We had just finished seining for fourth graders from the Ridgeway School in White Pains when an adult goshawk swept across the bay, checking the shoreline trees for prey. Further out, no fewer than 100 Canada geese were enjoying life: calm seas, cool water, and a 65° air temperature. Several dove like mergansers, emerging ten seconds later thirty feet away. Submarine geese!
- Bonnie Ackerman, Christopher Letts, Tom Lake

November 3 - Record air temperatures were noted at three sites on or near the estuary: 78°F in Westchester County (HRM 18), 79°F in Manhattan (HRM 5), and 81°F in Newark, NJ.
- National Weather Service

November 8 - Cold Spring, HRM 54: I left Cold Spring by kayak with six others at about 6:00 PM on this clear night. It was chilly with a 10-15 mph wind. After a short paddle north into the brisk breeze and some choppy water, we turned back south. The full moon lit our way into East Foundry Cove to watch the eclipse, reflected on calm waters and accompanied by shooting stars - a peaceful and beautiful sight.
- Dan McLaughlin

The Almanac is compiled weekly. Readers are invited to share observations with other Hudson River lovers by e-mailing them to trlake7@aol.com by 9 p.m. on the Monday previous to publication. See something really special? Call (845) 297-8935.

To sign up to receive the E-Almanac, send an email message to hrep@gw.dec.state.ny.us and write E-Almanac in the subject line.

Copies of past issues of the Hudson River Almanac, Volumes II-VIII, are available for purchase from the publisher, Purple Mountain Press, (800) 325-2665, or email purple@catskill.net.