Hudson River Almanac 4/15/17 - 4/22/17
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation sent this bulletin on 04/28/2017 02:06 PM EDT |
| DEC Delivers - Information to keep you connected and informed from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation |
| Share or view as a web page || Update preferences or unsubscribe |
|
|
Earth Day 48 was the highlight of the week, recognizing our need for clear air, clean water, and healthy land. The Hudson River Almanac, a natural history journal, chronicles this recognition by trying to make every day Earth Day.
A HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES
4/15 – Sleightsburgh Spit, HRM 91.5: I counted nine Bonaparte’s gulls in company with one larger gull in mid-river at High Banks Park this evening. Three osprey were hunting the mud flats and one came up with a fairly large goldfish.
4/15 – Hunter’s Brook, HRM 67.5: This small brook tumbles down the fall line and joins the tidewater Wappinger Creek a mile inland from the Hudson River. We have been setting fyke nets for glass eels in this tributary-of-a-tributary since 2003, monitoring the springtime migration of glass eels from the sea. Fifteen students from the Abriendo Puertas youth group (“Open Doors”) joined us today to see if we had a successful overnight set. By Hunter’s Brook standards, it was a bonanza: 235 glass eels, 26 elvers, a spottail shiner 22 millimeters [mm] long, and a fathead minnow (50 mm). In comparison, over our first seven years (2003-2009) our highest catch for any overnight set was 98 glass eels.
[Elver is the next life stage after glass eel. In some cases, these are last year’s glass eels that have lingered in the tributary and matured to the point where they look like miniature adult eels in both physical characteristics and darker pigmentation. Elvers are minimally two-year-olds ranging to three to five year-olds, with sizes ranging from 100-200 mm. Tom Lake.]
4/15 – Bedford, HRM 35: All of the active nests at the Bedford great blue heron rookery appeared to have birds hunkered down and incubating eggs. I met Jim Steck, our co-monitor for the Bedford Rookery, and we agreed that there appeared to be 24-26 nests this year. Hard to say how many have birds in them as many of them were down inside the nests and difficult to spot.
4/15 – Bedford, HRM 35: The surprise last year at the Bedford great blue heron rookery was a pair of red-tailed hawks using one of the nests. This year the surprise was a great horned owl sitting in a nest in the rookery. Owls do not build their own nests, preferring tree cavities or nests built by other birds such as herons. Great horned owl do sometimes take heron nestlings and if they stay and raise their young, this will be an interesting year.
4/16 – Town of Saugerties, HRM 102: Early this morning, I encountered a first-of-season green heron in the wetlands at the Esopus Bend Nature Preserve. With several days of warm, sunny weather, this past week produced a couple of first-of-season butterflies for Ulster County. I started seeing spring azures in my yard on 14 April and today I spotted a mint-fresh gray hairstreak and several more spring azures along a utility cut in the Town of Saugerties.
4/16 – Town of Poughkeepsie: Just when we had concluded that bald eagle nest NY62 would not have any breeding success for the first time in 17 years, the adults began again bringing sticks to the nest and engaged in mating. While it is likely too late for a successful incubation and hatch this spring, the fact that the pair – same female, new male with the death of N42 – seem to be willing to remain a pair, at least for now.
4/16 – Croton-on-Hudson, HRM 34.5: The osprey pair was being extremely attentive to their nest on the cell phone tower near the Croton-Harmon railroad station. Their regal-looking nest atop the tower inspires the thought of it being “a castle in the sky.”
4/17 – Croton Bay, HRM 34: On the falling tide at Croton Bay near the Croton-Harmon railroad station, I spotted a Caspian tern mixed in with the usual ring-billed and herring gull flock on a rocky spit.
4/17 – Tappan Zee, HRM 27: At least two peregrine falcon chicks were spotted atop the Tappan Zee Bridge today. Apparently this was the same pair of peregrines that have been returning each season to a man-made box maintained by the New York State Thruway Authority near the top of the Tappan Zee Bridge's main span truss. Once the new Tappan Zee span is completed, workers will move the nesting box to one of the new bridge's towers. In the meantime, a 100-foot construction-free buffer area is in place to protect the falcons. Last spring, a single chick made its debut in mid-April; the year before three nestlings were fledged.
[Peregrine falcons do not build a nest like many raptors. Rather they construct their version of a nest called a scrape on a flat hard surface. The flat surface of bridge girders, at a considerable height, are perfect for them. Among the fastest of birds, they can dive at a speed that can exceed 200 miles-per-hour. For a good read on peregrines, see Heinz Meng’s and John Kaufmann’s Falcons Return: Restoring an Endangered Species (1992). Tom Lake.]
4/17 – Manhattan, HRM 1: On a windy and overcast afternoon, we went to check our collection gear at The River Project’s sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25 in Hudson River Park. We caught no fish but did catch 91 grass shrimp, five very small mud crabs, an isopod, a sea pill bug, and seven amphipods. We have always assumed our shore shrimp were Palaemonetes pugio, but we will have our next group of students use microscopes and a dichotomous key to find out.
[“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). 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 and they can be difficult to distinguish from our native shrimps. The grass reference comes from one of their preferred habitats, submerged aquatic vegetation in the estuarine shallows colloquially referred to as “grass.” Tom Lake.]
4/18 – Sleightsburgh Spit, HRM 91.5: An osprey had caught a goldfish and was perched with it in a tree nearly out of sight. A bald eagle flew past and apparently did not notice the osprey right away, but then circled back and put the osprey to flight. The eagle then stole the goldfish from the osprey in mid-air. It looked as though the osprey had only eaten the fish’s head. This example of aerial “piracy” by an eagle from an osprey is not a rare occurrence.
4/18 – Fishkill, HRM 61: Along my favorite wetlands off Baxtertown Road, spring peepers have been, as usual, most plentiful. I’ve also heard chorus frogs, although they have been difficult to discern amongst the loud voices of the peepers. For the first time this season, I heard several pickerel frogs.
4/18 – Bedford, HRM 35: During today’s visit to the great blue heron rookery I counted 23 nests with a heron settled down, likely incubating. Every so often, a heron would fly in and circle around before landing on a nest, switching places with its mate. This will be the routine until the eggs hatch in a couple of weeks. The great-horned owl mentioned three days ago was still in its borrowed nest at the rookery. I first noticed the owl using one of the heron nests on April 5 and at that time the owl appeared to be on eggs. Today it sat motionless, as if in a trance. Giving the timing, the owl’s eggs may hatch around the same time as the heron’s.
4/18 – Croton Bay, HRM 34: I counted six Bonaparte's gulls on the Croton Bay inlet next to Croton-Harmon railroad station.
4/18 – Manhattan, HRM 2: In midmorning we checked some of our collection gear at The River Project’s Pier 40 research site with an ecology class from Manhattan’s New School. Our catch was modest: five mud dog whelk snails and a few shore shrimp. In a crab pot, we caught a northern pipefish but it fell back into the water before we could measure it. This pot has been catching all of our pipefish this season.
[The River Project in Manhattan is an important source of Hudson River Almanac data. Their scientists and educators have their fingers on the pulse of the lower estuary. Over the years we have added new species to our fish list through discoveries at the River Project including skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus), scrawled cowfish (Acanthostracion quadricorni), feather blenny (Hypsoblennius hentz), and banded rudderfish (Seriola zonata). If you would like an electronic copy of our Hudson River Watershed Fishes list, e-mail trlake7@aol.com. Tom Lake.]
4/19 – Albany, HRM 145: We watched an osprey beginning to build a nest this morning on the left tower of the Livingston Avenue railroad bridge (Amtrak) between the cities of Albany and Rensselaer.
[Pete Nye has speculated that until the last decade or so, there was very little overflow of coastal osprey to populate the Hudson Valley. Osprey in springtime migration were passing us by for Lake Champlain, the Great Lakes, and the Saint Lawrence River Valley. They now seem to be regularly nesting along the Hudson River. Tom Lake.]
4/19 – Saw Kill, HRM 98.5: On a beautiful spring evening on the Saw Kill, we seined in several locations with a small tide-pool having the most species. There we netted nine fourspine sticklebacks (Apeltes quadracus), two banded killifish, several small bluegills and redbreast sunfishes, and a beautiful brown bullhead. We did not see any river herring but I think a nearby great blue heron was also on the lookout. Water temperature was a balmy 61 degrees Fahrenheit, and good dissolved oxygen (12 parts-per-million).
4/19 – Manhattan, HRM 1: In early afternoon on a rising tide we checked our collection gear at The River Project’s sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25. Our killifish trap caught a small male blue crab (10 mm) and a female northern pipefish (175 mm). Most of the catch included shore shrimp (103), isopods, amphipods, eight tiny mud crab, and a shell-less hermit crab!
4/20 – Albany, HRM 145: We went back to the Corning Preserve today to watch the osprey sighted yesterday on the Livingston Avenue railroad bridge. To our surprise, three osprey arrived together, flying around the two main towers of the bridge. One had a fish and while in flight, engaged in a dipping-flight pattern – a courtship activity. There was much calling as two of them rested on one of the towers while the third osprey brought nesting material to the top of the left tower. Eventually all three osprey flew off downriver.
4/20 – Putnam County, HRM 52:
4/21 – Minerva, HRM 284: This was the first day for spring peepers singing in the swamp on our back forty. The ice went completely out a couple of days ago and there is no snow left in the woods. I’ve heard no wood frogs yet, but maybe I missed them. A male and two female buffleheads were on a pond near the swamp and a single common egret foraged nearby. I also heard my first “drumming” ruffed grouse of the spring.
4/21 – Hyde Park, HRM 82: Today we were treated to our first sighting of the red fox that dens in one of the rocky caves in our woods. I think this one might be the male and he appeared to be in excellent health, sporting a thick, deep red coat and a magnificent tail. If he were a dog, he’d be a candidate for ‘Best in Show.’ I can hardly wait to see the kits out and about. We love their antics, but I imagine the garter snakes, not so much.
4/21 – Manhattan, HRM 1: The Grant Avenue Elementary School joined us on a field trip this morning and helped us check our collection gear at The River Project’s sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25. Perhaps it was a lesson in nature, unscripted, in “real time,” as all we found in our killifish traps were large numbers of shrimp. On the other hand, these shore shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) are like “popcorn,” snacks to the myriad of predators in the river and they certainly play a vital role in the river’s ecology.
4/22 – Town of Wappinger, HRM 67.5: We found the tidewater of Wappinger Creek to be the perfect way to observe Earth Day as an expression of life’s dependence on a healthy planet. Early in the day we watched an adult bald eagle dive on a school of river herring fresh from the sea and carry one away for its hungry nestling. This is an important ecological connection – energy generated in the ocean reaching far into the uplands of the watershed. In the forest, shadbush was casting a soft white glow, a testament to a season of renewal.
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 twelve monitoring stations, visit the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System website.
Information about the Hudson River Estuary Program is available on DEC's website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4920.html.
Smartphone app available for New York outdoor enthusiasts!
NY Open for Hunting and Fishing Initiative
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 |
4/22 – Tivoli North Bay, HRM 100: This was the March for Science weekend across the nation in concert with Earth Day. Our Bard College students decided to display their own variation on the theme by displaying banners from our canoes reading “Marsh for Science.” We explored the tidemarsh at Tivoli North Bay, discussing topics from Phragmites function to sea level rise modeling. We used the high tide to explore some tight channels behind a beaver dam built within the marsh. The trails were a treasure trove of flowers, including trillium and trout lily. [Photo of canoeists courtesy of Chris Bowser.]
4/15 – Esopus Meadows, HRM 87: My nephew, Will, was having a great time exploring the low tide flats at the mouth of the Esopus-Klyne Kill. After we seined up a familiar cast of spottail shiners, banded killifish, and a small pumpkinseed, he excitedly called me over to an exhausted male white sucker stranded by the ebb tide. We talked about the right thing to do: leave it alone as a part of nature’s will, or help it back to deeper water. The river is a wonderful teacher. [Photo of white sucker courtesy of Chris Bowser.]
4/17 – Town of Saugerties, HRM 102: I walked a utility cut in the Town of Saugerties this afternoon to check for early season butterflies. Scanning the ground, I noticed a first-of-season male falcate orangetip, a native butterfly, perched on a dried stem - apparently having just emerged from its chrysalis. A careful search of the immediate area revealed the breached thorn-like chrysalis only a few inches from the butterfly. While photographing the orangetip, a first-of-season American lady butterfly landed a few feet away. [Photo of falcate orangetip courtesy of Steve Chorvas.]
4/18 – Hunter’s Brook, HRM 67.5: Thirteen of us, mostly seventh graders from Wappinger Junior High, checked to see how our overnight glass eel fyke net had performed. We had considered the 235 eels we caught three days ago to be a bonanza, yet today’s catch of 257 exceeded it. We also counted 29 elvers. [Photo of student with glass eels courtesy of Tom Lake.]|
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation respects your right to privacy and welcomes your feedback. | Update preferences or unsubscribe. | Learn more about DEC Delivers. |
|
Connect with DEC:   
|
 |
| NOW AVAILABLE: Receive DEC's Twitter feed via email. | |
| Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor * Basil Seggos, Commissioner | |