A Project of the Hudson River Estuary Program
Compiled by Tom Lake, Consulting Naturalist
Overview
The natural history highlights of this week ranged from the mountains to the sea, from butterflies to butterflyfish, blue crabs to bluefish. The amazing fall warbler migration was in full flight and the cool, damp mountain forests were producing a variety of mushrooms.
Highlight of the Week
 10/4 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We ended our sampling week by checking our research gear in Hudson River Park at The River Project's sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25. Our pots and traps had collected the expected, including two 40-50 millimeter (mm) black sea bass, three oyster toadfish, including an adult (255 mm), six blue crabs, and a very special catch, a nickel-size spotfin butterflyfish (22.5 mm). (Photo of spotfin butterflyfish courtesy of Siddhartha Hayes)
- Siddhartha Hayes, Huy Nguyen, Gianluca Astudillo
[Kellan Stanner and the staff at the Lower East Side Ecology Center in Manhattan caught a (45 mm) spotfin butterflyfish (Chaetodon ocellatus) on September 18. These tropical fishes are ordinarily a once–a-year-catch, and now we have had two this year. Tom Lake]
[Note: one inch = 25.4 millimeters (mm)]
Natural History Entries
9/27 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We ended our week of research by checking our sampling gear in Hudson River Park at The River Project's sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25. We found 19 blue crabs ranging in size from ten-millimeters (mm), penny-size, to 130 mm carapace width. There was a black seas bass (190 mm) and a handsome oyster toadfish (270 mm) mixed in.
Earlier in the week our staff (Siddhartha Hayes, Evelyn Stelman, and Chelsea Quaies) had collected 51 blue crabs, two oyster toadfish, a northern pipefish, a black sea bass, and a giant water bug (Lethocerus americanus).
- Huy Nguyen, Gianluca Astudillo, Isabel Pryor
9/27 – Manhattan, HRM 0: Sixth-graders from PS77 in Queens joined us at Wager Park in Battery Park City to fish the Hudson River. With their hooks baited with bloodworms, the 27 students fished the down tide from the promenade to catch 13 black sea bass and one cunner. The black sea bass ranged in size from 3-8 inches; the one cunner was 6-inches. The river was 70.3 degrees Fahrenheit (F).
- Doug Van Horn
 9/28 – Essex County: I walked the shore of an Adirondack Lake and came across a beautiful blue polypore (mushroom) that I'd never seen before. Two mushroom experts identified it from photos as Albatrellus caeruleoporus. It is good to have experts who are willing to share their expertise. I also harvested a dozen or so off-white low-growing agarics that I thought might be Tricholoma magnivelare (the American matsutake mushroom). My experts couldn't identify them from the photos I provided, so I will not risk tasting them. (Photo of bluepolypore mushroom courtesy of Steve Rock)
- Steve Rock
[Eating some species of wild mushrooms can cause sickness and even death. Despite widespread beliefs to the contrary, there is no general rule that allows you to distinguish between a poisonous mushroom and one that is safe to eat. Wild mushrooms should only be considered for consumption after being identified by an expert mycologist and even then, only in moderation with samples of fresh specimens retained and properly stored to aid in identification whenever poisoning is considered a possibility. Joining a mushroom club and participating in lectures, forays and mushroom identification classes is an excellent way to begin to learn all that needs to be known before you should feel that you can competently and independently identify a mushroom as being safe and edible that approaches 100% of the time. Steve Rock]
9/28 – Schodack Island State Park, HRM 135: I caught two young-of-year American shad (100-125 mm) in my seine today at the Schodack Island State Park Fall Festival. In the net as well was a young-of-year blueback herring, two white perch, and a golden shiner.
- Fran Martino
 9/28 – Bedford, HRM 35: There was a pretty good osprey flight today (33) at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch. Of the 94 raptors we spotted, sharp-shinned hawks were high count with 34. Non-raptor observations included 116 monarch butterflies. (Photo of monarch courtesy of Jackie Wu)
- Tait Johansson, Jason Tellone, Megan Owens, Pedro Troche
9/28 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: All birds were very high today at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch and were difficult to see against the blue sky. Of the 62 raptors spotted, broad-winged hawks were high count with 38.
- John Beccarelli
9/28 – Manhattan, New York City: Today was our Get Hooked! festival at Randall’s Island. Our Randall's Island Park Alliance staff assisted experienced anglers participating in a fishing clinic with rod-and-reel from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. They caught ten black sea bass, all about 178 mm, a northern puffer, a scup (180 mm) and two young-of-year bluefish. In the afternoon, novice anglers, including children, caught a northern puffer, two Atlantic silverside, five black sea bass, an oyster toadfish, and an eleven-inch scup (porgy). The East River was 71 degrees F.
- Jackie Wu
 9/28 – Sandy Hook, NJ: We were on an east-facing beach at the top of the ebb before first light. The gulls and terns were already there, in the water and on the sand. Something was coming. First light brought a rosy-pink to the eastern horizon to begin the cavalcade of pastels of sunrise from light blue to soft yellow to a lavender blush. Artists and photographers have long revered sunsets in their work – the Hudson River School of painting comes to mind. But for me, I’ll take sunrise. The growing glow from first light to dawn to sunrise is a study in anticipation, rebirth, renewal, and dawn of a new day.
The gulls and terns had it figured. Just as the light grew to where we could see our rod tips, tiny splashes just beyond the breakers grew to serious rips: bluefish. For the next half-hour we caught and released “cocktail blues,” ranging in size from 16-22-inches. The surf was 71 degrees F. (Photo of bluefish courtesy of Tom Lake)
- Tom Lake
["Cocktail” blues, is one of several colloquial names given to bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) of incremental age, size, and disposition. Young-of-year bluefish are called “snappers, yearlings are known as cocktail or tailor blues. Some names refer to the strength of their jaws. Once they reach the 10-12-pound range, anglers speak of choppers or slammers. Names like alligator and gorilla are reserved for the very largest and meanest of bluefish, weighing as much as twenty pounds or more. Tom Lake]
9/29 – Essex County: I took one last walk along the shore of an Adirondack Lake before having to leave for home and discovered a gorgeous fruiting of a coral mushroom (most likely Ramaria formosa). It posed well with a pine cone that just had to get into the picture for scale. These have mixed reports on edibility, but they probably serve best uncooked as plate or platter decorations.
- Steve Rock
[On occasion, the exact location of an entry is intentionally left vague to protect the sensitivity of the subject. Among the most common examples are choice mushrooms (foragers would rather give you their car keys than disclose a location where prime mushrooms were appearing), fields of prickly pear, stands of orchids, rattlesnake dens, dunes of snowy owls, vulnerable nests, especially bald eagles, osprey, and shorebirds, as well as archaeological investigations. Tom Lake]
9/29 – Albany County, HRM 150: I went to the Albany Pine Bush this morning (Karner Barrens East, Yellow Trail) to check out the migrating warblers. I wanted to find as many species as possible by taking photos and then examining them for identification. I have been amazed at how many species have been there in the last few days including the prized spruce budworm specialists: Tennessee, Cape May, and bay-breasted warblers.
After studying five different field guides and enhancing my photos, the results from today included 14 warbler species, among them Tennessee, Nashville, northern parula, chestnut-sided, magnolia, Cape May, black-throated blue (heard one singing), yellow-rumped, black-throated green, Blackburnian, palm, bay-breasted, blackpoll, and black-and-white. The total rises to 16 when I add two more species, pine warbler and American redstart, from an earlier visit. There may have been additional species as well – there were too many birds to check out every one. This exercise helped to add to my long list of birds that are a lot more common than I thought.
- John Hershey (Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club)
9/29 – Bedford, HRM 35: Despite the favorable winds today at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch, there was a modest flight of 63 raptors consisting mainly of sharp-shinned hawks (23). Non-raptor observations included 17 monarch butterflies.
- Richard Aracil, Jack Kozuchowski, Megan Owens, Pedro Troche
9/29 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: We counted 63 migrating raptors today at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch. Sharp-shinned hawks led the way with 31 birds. Non-raptor observations included three monarch butterflies, 24 great blue herons, 70 Canada geese, and six groups (12-24 each) of double-crested cormorants.
- Felicia Napier, Avril Armstrong, Tim Brew
9/30 – Beacon, HRM 61: We were on the beach with our net and a lantern before first light. We hoped to catch some fish for an upcoming school program in Ulster County. The fish we hoped to catch were a hedge against catching nothing on program day. Seining programs are done in real time, no do-overs, and students expect to see fish, or hear a believable reason why not. It is easier to bring some fish to talk about, just in case.
We laid out our 85-footer and made one pass in the shallows along the beach, catching no fewer than 300 fish of six species (largemouth bass, spottail shiners, golden shiners, tessellated darters, banded killifish, and young-of-year striped bass). We kept a dozen banded killifish; they were the best of the lot. Killifish are hardy enough to live in an aerated five-gallon bucket for a couple of days, and they are also a handsome fish – males in their lavender breeding-color bands. The river was 69 degrees F, and the salinity was 3.0 parts-per-thousand (ppt).
- Tom Lake, A. Danforth
9/30 – Bedford, HRM 35: There was a good flight today for Accipiters at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch. Sharp-shinned hawks led the count with 63. We also had our best Cooper’s hawk numbers (17) of the season and spotted an immature northern goshawk, our first of the season. The goshawk soared slowly northward past the platform before turning west over the ridge. Because of its flight path, it was unclear if the bird was a migrant. Non-raptor observations included 39 monarch butterflies, 24 Canada geese, 122 migrating cedar waxwings, and 20 northern flickers.
- Richard Aracil, Chris Franks, Denise Charbreau, Donna Genova, Megan Owens, Sandy Calkins, Sue Schnerotl
 9/30 – Manhattan, New York City: Our Randall's Island Park Alliance staff managed to hit a peak monarch butterfly migration time today. We tagged 44 butterflies in less than two hours for Monarch Watch (http://www.monarchwatch.org). Many were found at our Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh where goldenrod and boneset were currently in bloom. We had one moment where at least ten monarchs were on the boneset. We also came upon a Chinese mantis that was on goldenrod in the Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh. We thought it was eating some species of Bombus. (Photo of Chinese mantis courtesy of Jackie Wu)
- Jackie Wu
[The Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) is a species of praying mantis that is native to Asia. They were accidentally introduced into the U.S. in 1896 near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tom Lake]
10/1 – Bedford, HRM 35: Very little raptor migration took place today at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch. Eleven of the 33 raptors counted were sharp-shinned hawks. Non-raptor observations included 31 monarch butterflies and 90 migrating cedar waxwings.
- Richard Aracil, Megan Owens, Matt Alta
10/1 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: There was a very light migration of raptors today at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch. Osprey were high count with four. Non-raptor observations included 20 monarch butterflies.
- John Phillips
10/1 – Yonkers, HRM 18: Sarah Lawrence College Intensive Semester students Evelyn Huntington and Ryland Cullen took a stroll in the marsh this morning before the highest tide with the staff from the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak. They were prepping for programming at the end of the week. Our seine haul featuring Atlantic silverside (15) shared the net with moon jellyfish (10), comb jellies (5) and blue crabs (3).
- Elisa Caref, Jason Muller, Katie Lamboy
10/1 – Manhattan, HRM 1: We began our sampling week by checking our research gear in Hudson River Park at The River Project's sampling station on the lighthouse tender Lilac at Pier 25. Immature blue crabs continued to be high count (15), sharing the traps and pots with five oyster toadfish (30-55 mm), an American eel, and a lovely (18 mm) scup (porgy).
- Siddhartha Hayes, Ashlee Zhang, Chelsea Quaies
 10/2 – Esopus Meadows, HRM 87: There have been numerous red-headed woodpeckers at Esopus Meadows for nearly two weeks. The first week I saw as many as nine, six adults and three immatures, but there may have been even more. Now it seems like the adults have slowly moved out. I wonder if the adults take the young to new territory to have them begin a new colony? (Photo of red-headed woodpecker courtesy of Jim Yates)
- Jim Yates
[Wetland (swampy areas) hardwoods, especially dead trees, are preferred habitat for red-headed woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) probably due to the presence of numerous large dead trees. They will also inhabit woodland edges along rivers and open agricultural areas with dead trees away from wetlands. They also seem to favor tall pine plantations in the southern part of their range. Steve Chorvas]
 10/2 – Ulster County: Twenty students from an Ulster County elementary school joined us on the beach today at low tide. Together, we hauled our seine through the shallows to discover the life in the river. While our catch was modest – banded killifish, white perch, golden shiners, and young-of-year striped bass – we did have a few less-than-ordinary finds.
What we first identified as a bluegill sunfish (31 mm) turned out to be a hybrid bluegill x pumpkinseed sunfish. These two species share the same genus (Lepomis) but are different species: Lepomis macrochirus and L. gibbosus, making them taxonomically close enough to hybridize.
One of the students found a quarter-size blue crab moult on the beach (Callinectes sapidus). That was not surprising except that it was a female, a little “Sally” crab. Female blue crabs are very uncommon this far upriver from brackish water.
A cursory search along the cobble beach resulted in students finding several stone artifacts, including fire-cracked rock, hammerstones, and net sinkers. This beach had been a Native American (Mohican) fishing camp in antiquity, long before the arrival of the first Europeans. The river was 71 degrees F. (Photo of students marveling over their catch courtesy of Tom Lake)
- Mario Meier, Tom Lake
 [One of our students also found a small cobble covered with zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), an invasive species. The zebra mussel is a small freshwater bivalve native to Europe that came to North America forty years ago in the ballast water of cargo vessels. They first appeared in the Hudson River in May 1991 and quickly became a major component of the river’s biomass. The zebra mussel’s consumption of phytoplankton and zooplankton created a serious problem for other river life that were dependent on these microscopic forms as forage. However, as filter-feeders, zebra mussels had also begun to siphon their own young out of the water, thus creating what may be a check on their numbers. After more than two decades, the Hudson River’s zebra mussel population may have reached a temporary stasis. Tom Lake] (Photo of zebra mussels courtesy of Chris Bowser)
10/2 – Poughkeepsie, HRM 75: The air temperature reached 88 degrees F today, establishing a new record high for the date.
- National Weather Service
10/2 – Buchanan, HRM 42: What a wonderful experience having so many beautiful monarch butterflies in our gardens and flying all over the place. Since their numbers had greatly decreased in recent years, we have been so happy to witness their return and hope they all make safe journeys to their Mexican destination.
- Dorothy Ferguson, Bob Ferguson
10/2 – Bedford, HRM 35: It was a very slow day (27 raptors) at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch. The flight mainly consisted of a trickle of sharp-shinned hawks (11). At one point, a group of 20 turkey vultures spiraled high and then began streaming southwest. Non-raptor observations included 44 monarch butterflies.
- Richard Aracil, Chris Franks, Tony Wilkinson
10/2 – Yonkers, HRM 18: The air temperature reached 95 degrees F today, establishing a new record high for the date.
- National Weather Service
10/2 – Manhattan, HRM 7.5: The air temperature reached 93 degrees F today. establishing a new record high for the date
- National Weather Service
10/2 – Manhattan-Bronx, HRM 5-14: Sitting on the river side of the northbound Amtrak #69, I could see that a strong southward migration of monarch butterflies was underway. I saw dozens and dozens in singles and loose pairs as the train moved north from Penn Station to mile marker 14. After that, I saw no more. However, the journey to Albany did include numerous belted kingfishers, about a dozen bald eagles (including four magnificent adults), and scores of various waterfowl species.
- Dave Nelson
*** Fish of the Week ***
10/3 – Hudson River Watershed: Fish-of-the-Week for Week 41 is the cunner (Tautogolabrus adspersus) number 199 (of 230) on our watershed list of fishes. If you would like a copy of our list, e-mail trlake7@aol.com.
 Cunners are a rather small member of the wrasse family, Labridae, closely related to the tautog or blackfish. While they can reach 16-inches-long, most of those we see are less than ten. They are commonly found in the lower estuary in many habitats but prefer rocky, sheltered areas where they feed on small shellfish and mollusks. Anglers know them, colloquially, as “bergalls.” In New England, where they are the bait-stealing bane of jetty anglers, they are called “chogies.” (Photo of cunner courtesy of J.D. Wilson)
- Tom Lake
10/3 – Yonkers, HRM 18: A group of third-grade students from Riverdale School in the Bronx visited the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak today in stormy weather to help us seine the river. The weather just added to the atmosphere of exploration as our catch was delightfully dominated by moon jellyfish (80). They shared the net with Atlantic silverside (16), blue crabs, and comb jellies.
- Elisa Caref, Jason Muller, Evelyn Huntington, Ryland Cullen.
10/4 – New Baltimore, HRM 131: A female American goldfinch was still feeding two begging fledglings in my yard this morning. They seemed to pay no attention to my bird feeders, but that will change.
- Rich Guthrie
10/4 – Esopus Meadows, HRM 87: Duzine Elementary second-grade students from New Paltz were on the beach with our Hudson River Sloop Clearwater education team at the Esopus Meadows Environmental Education Center. A stiff, 30 miles-per-hour, north wind pushed water chestnut as well as fish into the shallows off our beach. Three hauls of our seine produced more than 200 fish of six species, including pumpkinseed sunfish, banded killifish, tessellated darters, brown bullheads, goldfish, and one lone carp. Several small blue crabs rounded out the catch. Notably absent were young-of-year river herring.
- Eli Schloss
 10/4 – Staatsburg, HRM 85: Eleven students from Marist College's Natural History class helped us check our fyke net on the Enderkill for silver eels. The net was installed yesterday to fish overnight in the hope that, prompted by overnight rain, some mature silver eels would be migrating to the ocean. We found 12 fish species that the net had collected, including American eel, golden shiner, spottail shiner, white sucker, banded killifish, Oriental weatherfish, brown bullhead, pumpkinseed sunfish, bluegill, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and tessellated darter. Non fish included spinycheek crayfish, blue crab, and wood turtle. Of the American eels, three were male silver eels on their way to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. (Photo of silver eel courtesy of Sarah Mount)
- Sarah Mount, Jim Herrington, Rich Feldman
[“Silver eel” is a colloquial name given to sexually mature American eels that have undergone physical changes preparatory to spawning They have morphed from the green-and-yellow coloration of their yellow eel phase, to dark black and stark white. Their eyes become enlarged and their alimentary canals atrophy. These changes are adaptations to traveling in the deep, dark waters of the North Atlantic to spawning locations that are still a mystery. Sarah Mount]
10/4 – Beacon, HRM 61: A strong west wind was ripping across the river bending the trees. But, we were sheltered on the beach in the lee of Long Dock point. While there has been much concern over the fate of this year’s crop of river herring, spottail shiners seemed to have produced a robust year-class. We caught more than a hundred, a catch that has become common. Equally as numerous in our seine were banded killifish (52-67 mm). Salinity was still hovering around 3.0 ppt, where it had been for more than a week. The river was 70 degrees F.
- Tom Lake, B.J. Jackson
[Windward and leeward are terms that are often used to provide color and accuracy to the description of a location or condition under which a sighting was made. These are sailing terms used to denote wind exposure: windward being in the face of the wind; leeward meaning sheltered, as in the lee of a point, an island, or a stand of trees. - Tom Lake]
 10/4 – Bedford, HRM 35: There was a nice flight of sharp-shinned hawks (84) at the Bedford Audubon Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch today that continued late into the afternoon. We extended the watch an additional 45 minutes to capture the entire movement. We also spotted five immature northern harriers. American kestrel (15), osprey (9), and Cooper’s hawks (9) also showed noticeable movement. Non-raptor observations included 720 Canada geese. (Photo of sharp-shinned hawk courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service)
- Richard Aracil, Chris Franks, Tony Loomis
10/4 – Croton Point, HRM 35: We hauled our seine today for a Westchester County elementary school. The tally (10 fish species) was reminiscent of years past when the catch at Mother’s Lap was always impressive. Among the fishes were American eel, white perch, spottail shiner, brown bullhead, pumpkinseed sunfish, northern pipefish, a foot-long white sucker, young-of-year and yearling striped bass, hundreds of bay anchovies, and a young-of-year silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura).
- Christopher Letts, John Phillips
[“Mother’s Lap" is a colloquial name for a small, sheltered cove on the north end of Croton Point. When commercial fishing was in its heyday in the mid-twentieth century, fishermen knew they could find refuge from wind and tide in this little bay as their nets worked offshore. In that regard, it reminded them of the calm and solace of sitting in “mother’s lap.” Tom Lake]
10/4 – Hook Mountain, HRM 31: We spotted 29 migrating raptors today at the Hook Mountain Hawkwatch. Cooper’s hawks were high count with eleven.
- Steve Miller, Dawn Hannay
10/4 – Yonkers, HRM 18: A group of third-grade students from Riverdale School in the Bronx visited the Sarah Lawrence Center for the Urban River at Beczak today for an in-depth look at tidemarshes, their function, and what lives there. Our most efficient tool for discovering tidemarsh life was our seine, and our hauls captured blue crabs (22), Atlantic Silverside (6), mummichogs (4), white perch (2), a young-of-year striped bass (85 mm), as well as shore shrimp and comb jellies.
- Elisa Caref and Jason Muller
 Autumn 2019 Natural History Programs
Tuesday, October 22
17th Annual Day in the Life of the Hudson River
Last year’s Day-in-the-Life of the River engaged nearly 6,000 students and educators at 86 sites from the Mohawk River to New York Harbor.
For more information:
https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/dayinthelife/ and https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/47285.html
The Hudson River Valley Ramble offers programs throughout the month of September. For more information, visit: https://www.hudsonrivervalleyramble.com/ramble
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 p.m.
DEC’s Urban and Community Forestry Program will host a webinar on October 10 at 9:30 a.m. to educate potential applicants on the grants process and answer questions. Application instructions and information about the October 10 webinar are available on the Grants Gateway website.
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.
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