A Project of the Hudson River Estuary Program
Compiled by Tom Lake, Consulting Naturalist
Overview
This week we held our 17th annual Day-in-the-Life of the River. This event has become a time to blend science, education, and almost a poetic reverence to our connection to the world we share. It is a day to pay homage to our educators, scientists, and students and recognize their roles. Naturalist Teilhard de Chardin said it well when he reasoned that, “the future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope.”
Highlight of the Week
 10/22 – Saugerties, HRM 102: In mid-morning, a seal appeared at the north side of the Saugerties Lighthouse within a few feet of the stone seawall. Once again, it slipped away underwater before I could snap a photo. The seal came back again in midday immediately to the north of the lighthouse. I took a photo that had poor resolution, but it was good enough to see that the seal had a carp in its mouth. The seal stayed near the surface, and I was able to watch it for several minutes as it dined on its catch. Another observer noted that the seal had a tag on its tail. (Photo of harbor seal courtesy of Michael Kalin)
- Patrick Landewe (Lighthouse Keeper)
[This was the fifth occasion of a seal sighting at the Saugerties Lighthouse: August 5, 21, September 1, October 13, 22, a 79-day span when one or more seals have been seen in the vicinity of the mouth of Esopus Creek. After reviewing a photo and a video, Kim Durham identified the seal as a harbor seal. If it is tagged, that would mean that it was rescued, or otherwise in need of assistance, tagged and released by The Riverhead Foundation or Kim Durham’s Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.
If you see a live and apparently healthy marine mammal in the estuary, please contact the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society (http://www.amseas.org). If you have photos or video, please send them to sightings@amseas.org. However, if you see a sick or injured marine mammal, please call the New York State Stranding Hotline, Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research & Preservation, at (631) 369-9829. Tom Lake]
Natural History Entries
10/19 – Esopus Meadows, HRM 87: I watched several flocks of brant flying south this morning. One flock attempted to land in the river with some double-crested cormorants but had second thoughts when an adult bald eagle showed up. In among all this drama was a nice male red-breasted merganser.
- Jim Yates
10/19 – Norrie Point, HRM 85: Our Carp Anglers Group’s fish seminar today provided free hands-on teaching of the skills needed to successfully catch carp, as well as promote angling for carp. During the seminar, several channel catfish were caught including a four-pounder on a tigernut bolie. Other fishes included six rudd, a close relative to carp, two of which were as large as dinner plates (three pounds). The largest carp of the day was a magnificent 12-pounder caught on a coconut cream bolie.
- Sam Williams
[“Boilies” are a staple bait for carp anglers, particularly in Great Britain. They are a boiled-paste fishing bait, often homemade, usually with combinations of various ingredients like fish meals, bird seed, semolina and soya flour, and often “secret” additives as well, that are mixed with eggs as a binding agent and then boiled to form hard, round baits that will last in the water. Sam Williams]
10/19 – Bedford, HRM 35: It was a good day for turkey vulture migration (145 birds), at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch, with birds streaming to the south of the platform. Among the 59 raptors, there were also good numbers of sharp-shinned hawks (27), Cooper’s hawks (10), and merlins (7). We had a very distant eagle that suggested golden eagle in terms of shape and proportions yet seemed to show significant white in its breast. Unfortunately, this interesting bird was much too distant for photos. Other non-raptor observations included two monarch butterflies and 250 double-crested cormorants.
- Richard Aracil, Megan Owens, Steve Walter, Tait Johansson
10/19 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: It was a quiet day at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch. We counted only 21 raptors – sharp-shinned hawks and Cooper’s hawks accounted for ten of those – and nine turkey vultures.
- Mary Iorizzo, John Beccarelli
 10/19 – Manhattan, HRM 0: Battery Park City Parks hosted a public catch-and-release “Go Fish” festival today in Wagner Park at Battery Park City. Using a variety of baits (squid, clams, blood worms), scores of participants caught oyster toadfish, striped bass, scup (porgy), black sea bass, and tautog. The river was 62 degrees Fahrenheit (F). (Photo of scup courtesy of Peter Park)
- Doug Van Horn, Craig Hudon, Tom Lake, T.R. Jackson
10/20 – Bedford, HRM 35: It was a strange day at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch with a surprisingly good flight (41 raptors) most of which appeared in midday. We did not see a vulture at all for the first three hours. Then, in the next to last hour, several small groups suddenly appeared, kettled up, and then streamed off to the southwest along with a few other migrant raptors, including a few red-shoulder hawks. Other non-raptor observations included 20 red-winged blackbirds and 55 American robins.
- Tait Johansson, Megan Owens
10/20 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: Oddly enough, there was not a single turkey vulture, black vulture, or red-tailed hawk at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch today. We noted 20 raptors with sharp-shinned hawk high count with 14. Non-raptor observations included lots of blue jays.
- Felicia Napier, Marty Wyenn
10/21 – Green Island, HRM 152: On the beach at Green Island, growing at the base of an outcropping of 500 million-year-old Normanskill shale, is a 40-foot-tall cottonwood. This tree has, at least for the last decade, been a favorite resting spot for bald eagles, often slipping soundlessly into the perch. I was casting off the beach today when I heard a soft chortle. I knew what it was without even turning to look. I would guess they have become accustomed to the anglers, and on occasion, they get a free meal from poorly released fish. My catch today was limited to three spirited 14-inch smallmouth bass which I carefully set back in the river and watched safely swim off. The water was 51 degrees F.
- Tom Lake
10/21 – Bedford, HRM 35: This was our best day at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch for migrating red-shouldered hawks (11). Sharp-shinned hawks were high count (25) among the 60 raptors noted. Turkey vultures (122) also showed well today. Other non-raptor observations included five monarch butterflies.
- Richard Aracil, Megan Owens
10/21 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: We had a huge day at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch today with migrating red-shouldered hawks (26). High count among the 84 raptors were sharp-shinned hawks (30). Turkey vultures (68) and black vultures (24) also made a good showing.
- Steve Miller, Vince Plogar
10/21 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We checked our research sampling gear in Hudson River Park at The River Project's sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25 and discovered that we had collected many representatives of the bottom (benthos) of the river. These included a tiny, ten-millimeter (mm) skilletfish, oyster toadfish, tautog (200-300 mm), black sea bass (70-200 mm), and a naked goby. The only pelagic species was a single moon jellyfish.
- Siddhartha Hayes, Evelyn Stelman, Isabel Pryor
[Note: one inch = 25.4 millimeters (mm)]
10/21 – Manhattan, New York City: Randall's Island Park Alliance staff educators recovered a bird today that had been found on the ground near a bus stop. We think it may have flown into a glass window. It was breathing fairly heavily and not moving much, so we brought it to the Wild Bird Fund on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. Staff there were able to resuscitate the immature yellow-bellied sapsucker.
- Jackie Wu
10/22 – Hudson River Watershed: This was our 17th annual Day-in-the-Life of the River covering more than 160 river miles at 83 sites from above the Federal Dam at Troy to Staten Island and the East River. Both students (4,610) and teachers-educators (605) made up the total of 5,215 participants.
- Tom Lake
 10/22 – Norrie Point, HRM 85: On a cool, overcast morning 24 students from Poughkeepsie High School and nine from Millbrook High School visited the Norrie Point Environmental Education Center to collect scientific data. We seined on an ebb tide and caught an amazing 383 fish. Highlights included 217 spottail shiners and 94 pumpkinseed sunfish, along with eight other species. The only “low light” was DEC staff finding two more pairs of waders for the "leaky pile." The water was 52 degrees F. (Photo of striped bass courtesy of Chris Bowser)
- Maija Niemisto
[Students often ask, "Why do we seine?" Seining is like a mystery. Seining is a doorway into the river we cannot otherwise see. We seine for knowledge, for the magic of discovery. The anticipation renders seining like a romance. As the net comes in, the experience can be akin to opening a birthday present. Tom Lake]
10/22 – Cornwall Landing, HRM 57: A south wind edging toward southeast picked up some bite as we waited in the shadow of Storm King Mountain. Sixty-six fourth-grade students and a dozen adults from Willow Avenue Elementary in Cornwall sat on beached timbers just above the tideline. And, while the species diversity was low (just two species), their stories were memorable. Both were native species, spottail shiners (72-81 mm) and striped bass (74-79 mm).
We shared with the students the story of how spottail shiners (Notropis hudsonius) were described to science by De Witt Clinton in 1824, between his two terms as the sixth governor of New York State (1817-1822, and 1825-1828). The striped bass story was one of heroics. In a court struggle that eventually went to Washington, D.C., their presence and vulnerability as young-of-year in the river at Cornwall, saved the iconic image of Storm King Mountain from being converted into a pump-storage electric-generating facility. As the tide dissolved our footprints from the sand, the striped bass all headed seaward. The river was a chilly 56 degrees F, and the salinity was less than 1.0 ppt.
- Chris O’Sullivan, Tom Lake, Debbie Gilson
[In a world often overflowing with alien, invasive, misplaced species, we often speak of native species as a counterpoint. When we ask students what we mean by native, we get answers like “it has always been here.” But always is an inexact word. Since the Hudson Valley was covered with more than a mile of ice 20,000 years ago (no one was home), perhaps a better measure is to ask, “was the plant, bird, fish, flower, or mammal here when the first Europeans arrived?” If so, it is native; if not it was introduced later on, thus nonnative. Tom Lake]
10/22 – West Point, HRM 51: Dr. Patrick Baker, LTC Mindy Kimball, CPT Nathaniel Sheehan, and 26 cadets from the United States Military Academy hosted a Day-in-the-Life of the River. One hundred people, including the entire fourth-grade from West Point Elementary and a local girl scout troop participated. We made nine hauls of our 30-foot seine on a half-tide sandy beach just south of Gee’s Cove (at low tide the bottom is silty mud) and caught 16 fish of four species. They included striped bass, pumpkinseed sunfish, and white perch. A rod and reel effort augmented our seine and produced two white perch and a smallmouth bass. The water temperature was 59 degrees F, and the salinity was 0.16 ppt.
- Patrick Baker
10/22 – Bedford, HRM 35: We had just a few birds today the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch before the rains came. Among them were two sharp-shinned hawks, a northern harrier, and an American kestrel.
- Richard Aracil, Megan Owens
10/22 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: There was almost no raptor migration at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch today. It was quiet and dark with an insistent southeast breeze on the summit. Early on, a sharp-shinned hawk came in from the east, followed by a Cooper’s hawk attempting to get to the smaller Accipiter. The sharp-shinned pulled away and headed southwest while the Cooper’s veered down into the trees east of summit. We counted just five raptors with top number being American kestrel (2), and then one each northern harrier, merlin, and sharp-shinned hawk.
- Gertrude R. Battaly
10/22 – Yonkers, HRM 18: Twenty-one students from the New York City High School for Environmental Studies visited the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak to participate in our Day-in-the-Life of the River seining program. Moon jellyfish (35) and comb jellies (10) dominated the catch. Among the fishes were Atlantic silverside, young-of-year striped bass (90-130 mm), and a beautiful winter flounder (110 mm).
- Jason Muller, Katie Lamboy
10/22 – Manhattan, HRM 0: Battery Park City Parks hosted a Day-in-the-Life of the River event in Wagner Park for 24 eighth-graders from Queens. Using squid and blood worms, the students caught gorgeous black sea bass and burley oyster toadfish.
- Doug Van Horn
 10/22 – New York Harbor: The Harbor School on Governors Island is the heart of New York's Upper Bay. With assistance from the Billion Oyster Project's Diana Fu, Roy Arezzo's aquiculture class spent the afternoon studying the harbor right outside their classroom. They measured water temp at 61 degrees F, and salinity of 19.0 ppt. Although some valiant cast-netting did not land any fish, a search through their oyster restoration cages found mud crabs, mussels, tunicates, bryozoans, and oysters. (Photo of students at Governors Island courtesy of Chris Bowser)
- Chris Bowser
 10/22 – Manhattan, New York City: We were seining for Day-in-the-Life in the East River at the Brooklyn Bridge West site, just north of the old Fulton Fish Market. We were joined by students from Lehman Preparatory, Manhattan International, and the Urban Assembly School for Emergency Management, along with great assistance from the Waterfront Alliance and Lower East Side Ecology Center. With a salinity around 22 ppt, we were happy to see our early seines come up with Atlantic silverside and comb jellies. Students stayed engaged looking at water chemistry, measuring tides and currents, and launching a cast net. (Photo of students at Brooklyn Bridge courtesy of Chris Bowser)
- Chris Bowser, Maggie Flanagan, Bill Livingston, Athena Theodoris, Kellan Stanner.
10/22 – Manhattan, New York City: Day-in-the-Life of the River had come to Randall’s Island. On a drizzly day, Randall's Island Park Alliance staff educators hosted 70 students from Dwight School in Manhattan for seining along our Water's Edge Garden on the East River. Our catch was extraordinary: across seven hauls of our net we caught 496 Atlantic silverside, a northern pipefish, a young-of-year striped bass, and two young-of-year winter flounder. In addition to the fish, we also caught a dozen blue crabs and many comb jellies. The water was 62 degrees F, and the salinity was 20 ppt.
- Jackie Wu
*** Fish of the Week ***
 10/23 – Hudson River Watershed: Fish-of-the-Week for Week 45 is the skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus), number 205 (of 230) on our watershed list of fishes. If you would like a copy of our list, e-mail - trlake7@aol.com.
Skilletfish are a small, benthos-loving fish related to gobies and blennies. Like gobies, they have a pelvic suction disc leading to another common name, clingfish (Hildebrand and Schroeder 1928). They find oyster reefs ideal habitat for both forage and safety. Their primary common name comes from a dorsally-flattened body with a large, roundish head that altogether looks like a skillet. They are considered a temperate marine stray in the lower, brackish reach of the estuary. (Photo of skilletfish courtesy of Melissa Rex)
- Tom Lake
10/23 – Bedford, HRM 35: We had good movement of turkey vultures today at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch (108 birds), as well as sharp-shinned hawks (22), Cooper’ hawks (8), and red-shouldered hawks (5). Other non-raptor observations included three monarch butterflies.
- Richard Aracil, Megan Owens
10/23 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: There was a weak showing of migrating raptors (9) today at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch. Sharp-shinned hawks were high count with five.
- Steve Sachs, Tim Brew
10/23 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We checked our research sampling gear in Hudson River Park at The River Project's sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25 and were extremely impressed by four husky tautog (215-270 mm). A suite of oyster toadfish ran from young-of-year (40 mm) to adult (225 mm). A single moon jellyfish also shared the crab pot.
- Siddhartha Hayes, Chelsea Quaies
 10/24 – Little Stony Point, HRM 55: It was a picture-perfect autumn day on the water, but as educators and researchers will admit, not every haul of a net will reveal new truths. Today’s effort with our 85-footer was quite unremarkable. Our seine filled with young-of-year striped bass (85-102 mm), an encouraging season-long theme with that species. As we gently tossed spottail shiners back into the river, we heard soft slurps behind us. We turned to find that a gang of ring-billed gulls had formed a semi-circle twenty feet off shore and were intercepting our unintended offers.
Two miles upstream, a pair of ravens had launched off Breakneck Ridge and their cries sounded like an iconic “call of the wild.” The river was 62 degrees F, salinity had fallen to nearly unmeasurable. (Photo of ring-billed gull courtesy of Deborah Tracy Kral)
- Tom Lake, A. Danforth
10/24 – Selkirk, HRM 135: The bald eagle pair across the Hudson from Henry Hudson Park in Selkirk was building a new nest (NY81C). Their old nest, which was about nine years old, fell to the ground in August. It appeared that they began building in one tree, then changed their mind and started over in another tree. The new nest is visible from the park and is very close to the old site.
- John Kent (Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club)
10/24 – Bedford, HRM 35: Of the 53 migrating raptors counted at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch today, 27 were sharp-shinned hawks. Red-shouldered hawks also made a good showing with nine. High count among migrants were turkey vultures with 101 birds. Other non-raptor observations included seven monarch butterflies.
- Richard Aracil, Megan Owens, Tait Johansson
10/24 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: Of the 29 migrating raptors counted today at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch, 20 were sharp-shinned hawks. High count among migrants were the combined turkey vultures (18) and black vultures (7). Other non-raptor observations included 42 Canada Geese.
- Anne Swaim
 10/24 – Yonkers, HRM 18: Fifty-seven third-grade students from the Leffell Jewish Day School in White Plains visited the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak today for a day-long seining event. The most amazing aspect of our seine sampling was 805 moon jellyfish and ten comb jellies. Other impressive invertebrates included sand shrimp (12), grass shrimp (84), blue crabs (73), and a gravid [with eggs] mud crab (Panopeidae). Almost secondarily, there were fishes such as Atlantic silverside, mummichog, naked goby, white perch, and young-of-year striped bass. (Photo of shore shrimp courtesy of Richard Key)
- Elisa Caref, Jason Muller
[“Grass shrimp” is a collective common name for three native species of small shrimp found in the salty and brackish waters of the estuary, including two species of shore shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) and (P. vulgaris), and sand shrimp (Crangon septemspinosa). Another, much less common native shrimp in the Hudson River is the brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus). We also have an invasive species, the Oriental shrimp (Palaemon macrodactylus), native to estuaries and coastal Pacific Ocean waters of Russia, Japan, and South Korea. The “grass” reference comes from one of their preferred habitats, submerged aquatic vegetation in the estuarine shallows, such as wild celery, colloquially referred to as “grass.” Tom Lake]
10/24 – Manhattan, HRM 1: Checking our blue crab pots, part of our research sampling gear in Hudson River Park at The River Project's sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25, we found that the pots had caught (accumulated) more than the usual normal number of moon jellyfish this week. They all ranged from 75-100 mm across their bell or mantle.
- Toland Kister (Education Coordinator)
[Young medusae (umbrella-shaped) moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) appear in the lower estuary in late summer and early fall. They are true jellyfish, plankton feeders, with several hundred fringed tentacles that serve as sticky collectors of both phytoplankton and zooplankton. Adult moon jellyfish, with a pinkish umbrella up to ten-inches-across, are most commonly associated with ocean beaches. They are frequently stranded at the high-tide line, and, while non-stinging, have startled many a beach walker who happened to step on one. Tom Lake]
10/25 – Newburgh, HRM 61: When the adult bald eagles are together at their nest tree (NY488A), it is fairly easy to distinguish the larger female from the male. However, it can be more challenging when they are there individually. Yesterday, just after sunrise, while scanning the tree for the pair, a white head popped up from the nest. Deciding whether it was the male or female would simply be a guess.
A short time later the other adult flew in, slowed, then gracefully delivered a large stick to its mate before flying off again. The stick was maneuvered a few times before it was positioned in the nest. Even from this exchange, it wasn’t possible to determine male or female, however, because both participate in this activity. It was just a joy to watch as they diligently refurbished their nest.
- Peter Turrone
 10/25 – Kowawese, HRM 59: It was one of those fortunately rare fishless days. We hauled our net again and again and caught not a living thing. It could be an ego-crusher if you let it. We knew the remedy to such days: the academically-perfect axiom for such situations is “no data is still data.” We had decided on that line of reasoning when, in the bag of our final haul (tenth), there was bronzy fluttering, a young-of-year smallmouth bass. Our new line of reasoning suggested that it was a recent emigre from either Quassaick Creek, a half-mile upriver, or Moodna Creek, a half-mile downriver. The river was still a tepid 61 degrees F. (Photo of smallmouth bass courtesy of Tom Lake)
- Tom Lake, A. Danforth
10/25 – Bedford, HRM 35: It was a very slow day at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch. There were virtually no migrants during the first two hours of the watch, and the last two hours. There was a light flight of turkey vultures (55 birds) to the south. Of the 15 raptors noted, sharp-shinned hawks were high count with seven. Other non-raptor observations included a single monarch butterfly.
- Richard Aracil, Pedro Troche
10/25 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: There was a very limited showing of migrating raptors (8) today at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch. Red-shouldered hawks were high count with three. Other non-raptor observations included two monarch butterflies.
- Vince Plogar
10/25 – Piermont, HRM 25: Nyack College Fishing Club students, Angel Bryanne De Jesus and Brendan Buehler, joined me at Piermont Pier today with cut menhaden and sandworms to see if we could catch some fish. The white perch were eager as we caught nine of them as well as a foot-long channel catfish. But the stars of the day were white catfish, a native species in the Hudson whose presence has been challenged by the nonnative, invasive channel catfish. Our six white catfish ranged from 12-14-inches. The river was 62 degrees F, and the salinity was 5.0 ppt.
- Peter Park
10/25 – Yonkers, HRM 18: Two dozen fifth-graders from the Eugenio Maria de Hostos Microsociety School in Yonkers visited the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak to go seining. This was Day 2 of the big moon jellyfish count. After finding 805 in our net yesterday, we topped that today with 995. Despite the incredible number of jellyfish, the star of the day was a young-of-year alewife (130 mm). The alewife class of 2019 has been almost totally absent this summer and fall in the estuary. White perch, striped bass, Atlantic Silverside, mummichogs, blue crab, and both sand and shore shrimp
rounded out our catch.
- Katie Lamboy, Elisa Caref
10/25 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We ended our research week by checking our sampling gear in Hudson River Park at The River Project's sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25. The recent and usual suite of tautog (190-220 mm), black sea bass (70-90 mm), and oyster toadfish (38-300 mm) were there, but the highlights were a tiny (30 mm) butterfish and a spider crab in mid-moult.
- Siddhartha Hayes, Nina Hitchings
10/25 – Manhattan, HRM 0: Twenty-one eighth-graders from Manhattan came to fish with us today in the Hudson River at Wagner Park in Battery Park City. Using blood worms, the students caught a variety of species including black sea bass, tautog, striped bass, and cunner. Black sea bass were high hook with 13.
- Doug Van Horn
10/25 – Manhattan, New York City: Randall's Island Park Alliance staff educators seined Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh today making three hauls of their net. While the fish caught our attention, including 95 striped killifish, 53 mummichogs, and nine Atlantic silverside, it was the bounty of shrimp that impressed us most. Almost all of the meticulously-counted 400 were classified as “grass shrimp” [shore shrimp], with a couple of sand shrimp mixed in. The water was 62 degrees F, and the salinity was 18 ppt.
- Jackie Wu
Autumn 2019 Natural History Programs
Wednesday, December 4
DEC Now Accepting Applications for Urban Forestry Projects
DEC Now Accepting Applications for Urban Forestry Projects
- Up to $1.2 million in grant funding is available for urban forestry projects across New York State. Grants are available for tree planting, maintenance, tree inventory, community forest management plans and for educating those who care for public trees. https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5285.html
Eligible applicants include municipalities, public benefit corporations, public authorities, soil and water conservation districts, community colleges, not-for-profit organizations and Indian nations or tribes. Awards will range from $11,000 to $75,000, depending on municipal population. Tree inventories and community forest management plans require no match. Tree planting, maintenance and education projects have a 25 percent match requirement.
Interested applicants must apply for the grant in Grants Gateway. Not-for-profit applicants are required to pre-qualify in the Grants Gateway system, so DEC recommends that applicants start the process well in advance of the grant application due date. DEC will not accept paper or hand delivered grant applications. The deadline for applications in Grants Gateway is December 4, 2019 at 2 PM.
Hudson River Miles
The Hudson is measured north from Hudson River Mile 0 at the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan. The George Washington Bridge is at HRM 12, the Tappan Zee 28, Bear Mountain 47, Beacon-Newburgh 62, Mid-Hudson 75, Kingston-Rhinecliff 95, Rip Van Winkle 114, and the Federal Dam at Troy, the head of tidewater, at 153. The tidal section of the Hudson constitutes a bit less than half the total distance – 315 miles – from Lake Tear of the Clouds to the Battery. Entries from points east and west in the watershed reference the corresponding river mile on the mainstem.
To Contribute Your Observations or to Subscribe
The Hudson River Almanac is compiled and edited by Tom Lake and emailed weekly by DEC's Hudson River Estuary Program. Share your observations by e-mailing them to trlake7@aol.com.
To subscribe to the Almanac (or to unsubscribe), use the links on DEC's Hudson River Almanac or DEC Delivers web pages.
Discover New York State Conservationist - the award-winning, advertisement-free magazine focusing on New York State's great outdoors and natural resources. Conservationist features stunning photography, informative articles and around-the-state coverage. Visit the Conservationist webpage for more information.
Useful Links
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration online tide and tidal current predictions are invaluable when planning Hudson River field trips.
For real-time information on Hudson River tides, weather and water conditions from sixteen monitoring stations, visit the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System website.
DEC's Smartphone app for iPhone and Android is now available at: New York Fishing, Hunting & Wildlife App.
Adventure NY
Under Governor Cuomo's Adventure NY initiative, DEC is making strategic investments to expand access to healthy, active outdoor recreation, connect more New Yorkers and visitors to nature and the outdoors, protect natural resources, and boost local economies. This initiative will support the completion of more than 75 projects over the next three years, ranging from improvements to youth camps and environmental education centers to new boat launches, duck blinds, and hiking trails. Read more about the Adventure NY initiative. For more information on planning an outdoor adventure in New York State, visit DEC's website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor.
Information about the Hudson River Estuary Program is available on DEC's website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4920.html.
|
