Native American Institute of
The Hudson River Valley
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Native American Institute of
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T What is NAIHRV
The Institute will support and carry out research and educational activities promoting awareness of Native American culture and experience. The intention of the Institute and its members is to research and disseminate accurate information and historical fact concerning the European encounter with the First Nations and the history of these nations before and after that encounter. The Institute is not a political entity, and will not engage in public controversy, nor support or lend its name to any form of political activity or advocacy. Although it is possible that information or historical data developed by the Institute may be made available or be used by an advocacy or political organization, however, this in no way implies endorsement of a particular cause by the Native American Institute. The Institute will remain true to its mission of doing research, providing education, increasing awareness, and discerning historical truth. Calendar of EventsANNUAL FILM & ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
Crailo State Historic SiteContact Information:9 1/2 Riverside Ave. Rensselaer, NY 12144 (518) 463-8738 Grand Re-Opening July 4th and 5th, 2009 with public festivities and open house from 11am-4pm.
Dutch and Native Americans in the 17th c. Hudson River Valley
Native American and Dutch interpretation
Musicians of Ma'alwyck
Early Dutch Folk and Popular Music
Celebration of A Sweet and Alien Land: Colony of the Dutch in the Hudson River Valley
Rensselaer County Living History Weekend
Crailo Harvest Faire Come Visit us at the NAIHRV Booth!!!!
Western Frontier Symposium
Mabee Farm Historic Site1080 Main St.Rotterdam Junction, NY 12150 (518) 887-5073 mabee@nycap.rr.com French & Indian War Re-enactment and Market Fair All Day June 6th and 7th Schenectady Bi-centennial History & Heritage Day British, French, Native Americans and Provinicals recreate the battles that took place in our own backyards in the mid 1700’s. An 18th Century Market Fair will also take place, comprised of a vibrant blend of Colonial period craftsmen and merchants. Barn dance on Saturday evening. Great educational fun for the whole family! Early Technologies Day Saturday, August 1, 10:00 to 4:00 - COME SAY HI TO NAIHRV! Learn about fire starting, cordage and deer sinew, brain tanned leather working, quill work, powder horn engraving, tinsmithing, blacksmithing, basket-making, beadwork and more! Highlights of the day will include a hands-on flint knapping workshop and atlatl throwing with Barry Keegan. Bring your Native artifacts for identification by the Van Epps Hartley Chapter of the New York State Archaeology Association. The 6th Annual Mabee Farm Arts & Crafts Festival will be held on August 22, 2009 from 10am - 5pm at the Mabee Farm Historic Site. The festival will feature the best in local area arts including pottery, wood crafting, handwovens, candles, jewelery, fine arts, painted furniture and so much more - over 50 artists and craftspeople! Download the Mabee Farm Arts & Crafts Festival application here.
2009 Summer and Fall Calendar of Events
Rogers Island Visitors Center11 Rogers Island Drive Fort Edward, NY 12828ADMISSION TO ALL EVENTS: Free - (don ations accepted to offset costs!) 747-3693 DIRECTIONS: From I-87: Exit 17N onto Rt.9 North. Right turn at first traffic light onto Rt. 197 East. Right turn on Rogers Island after crossing first bridge. From Rt.4: In village of Fort Edward take Rt. 197 West. Left turn on Rogers Island just before the second bridge. ACCESSIBILITY: Wheelchair accessible, wheelchair accessible restrooms. Strollers are allowed. FACILITIES: rest rooms, picnic tables, gift shop 
May 30 – 1609 Henry Hudson and You! Learn more about Henry Hudson’s voyage in 1609 . 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
May 30 – 1609 Henry Hudson Half Moon Feast! 5:00 PM Cocktails / 6:00 PM Dinner. A Quadricentennial program and dinner open by reservation only. Dinner includes 15th and 17th century Dutch recipes using ingredients provided to the ship’s crew. Dine with Henry Hudson, his crew and the Native Americans that greeted them. Live period music. $16.09 adults / $8.00 under 12. For reservations call Rogers Island Visitors C enter 518-747-3693 or email rogersisland@gmail.com. This Quadricentennial program is made possible by a grant from the Hudson River Foundation.
July 6 – August 14 Archaeological Field School 12:30 pm Weekdays August 1-2 The Great Carrying Place “Coming Home” Pow Wow 10am-10pm Saturday and 10am-4pm Sunday
SATURDAY AUGUST 1, 2009
SUNDAY AUGUST 2, 2009
September 26-27 The End of the Campaign French & Indian War Encampment 10:00am– 4:00 pm
Open Wednesday – Saturday 10am – 4pm / Sunday 1pm-4pm (open daily June – August)
2009 EventsCome Join Us!
May 2
May 16
June 27
July 3,4, 5
August 1
August 2
September 12
September 20
Oct. 3 & 4
Peebles Island State Park Summer Lecture Series
June 17 Native American Inhabitants of the Hudson-Mohawk River David Cornelius, Native Educator and Genealogist
June 24
July 8
July 15
More dates to be announced. Go to http://nysparks.com and select "Peebles Island" for more information. Peebles Island State Park is a 191 acre oasis located at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. Park entrance is located at the end of 2nd St. off Broad St., in Waterford or at the end of Delaware Ave. off Ontario St. in Cohoes. For more information, please contact Jamie at (518)237-7000 x219.
Membership:
There are five categories of membership. Membership is from April 1 to March 31 of the following year. The categories include: 2. Family Membership – Any family groups interested in the purposes of the institute shall be eligible for membership. 3. Institutional Membership – Any organization, board, school, library or business/firm interested in the objectives of the institute shall be eligible for membership. 4. Contributing and Sustaining Membership – A person, group or firm offering special support to the objectives of the institute shall be eligible for membership. 5. Honorary Membership – Honorary membership may be conferred upon any person whose activities have contributed to the objectives of the agency. Honorary members shall be elected by a three-fourths vote of the members present at the annual meeting. Select Membership Option: Please Print Name: Phone Number: Interest: (Check One)
Hello Friends of NAIHRV Welcome to our first online Newsletter. I wish to thank our editor Lion Miles for the superb job he has done. I think you will find the articles by Larry Thetford, Tom Lake and Lion Miles to be enlightening. Please send any questions or comments you may have about the articles. We welcome dialogue. Here at NAIHRV we are getting ready for the April 4 Seminar at the New York State Museum. Mark your calendars! We will be sending a notice with the Seminar registration form in two weeks. Can you believe it will be Seminar Number 8? Be well and stay warm. Many thanks to all of you. -Mariann Mantzouris NEWSLETTER |
| Individual Membership | $20.00 |
| Family Membership | $40.00 |
| Institutional Membership | $50.00 |
| Lifetime Membership | $200.00 |
For further information, you may contact
Mariann Mantzouris
P.O. Box 327
Sand Lake, NY 12153
E-mail: marimantz at aol.com
Phone: (518) 369-8116.
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| Full Grooved | 3/4 Grooved Celts & Gouges |
Related to this legend is Heckewelder's story of the "Big Naked Bear," found in the missionary's papers at the New-York Historical Society and printed in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. The Mohicans called this animal "Ahamagachktiât Mecehquá," meaning "great terrible naked bear." To the Unami it was "Yagesho" or "naked bear," and to the Seneca it was "Ganiagwaihegowa" or "The Great Mythic Bear Monster." This animal was probably not mythical at all and resembled the prehistoric creature known as the Short-Faced Bear (see Tom Lake's account below). It was very ferocious, larger than the largest bear, and had a huge head with a fearful look. Its toes had claws "near as long as an Indian's finger" and they "spread very wide." Its body was almost bare of hair except for the head, neck, and hind parts of its legs. (The Seneca version says it had no hair at all.)
For years Yagesho had destroyed many Indians, particularly women and children out gathering nuts and roots or working in the fields. It would search for the tracks or scent of hunters and run them down, the only escape being to plunge into a river or lake and swim away. When the beast could not pursue, it would make such a roar that every Indian hearing it would tremble. Finally, the women became so afraid to go out to work that the men assembled to decide on a plan to kill the animal.
Now it happened that Yagesho, the Naked Bear, lived on Lake Champlain in Mohican territory. A resolute party of hunters, well armed with bows, arrows, and spears, headed for the lake and stationed themselves on a high rock, flat on top with steep perpendicular sides. The hunters spent several days atop the rock, making various animal cries and imitating the voices of children in an attempt to lure the animal there. Failing to decoy the beast, a party lowered themselves down the side of the rock by means of Indian ladders and reconnoitered the ground. They found fresh tracks and hastily returned to the rock with the beast in full pursuit.
The hunters cut off Yagesho's head and carried it in triumph to their village on the Hudson River, where they set it on a pole for public viewing. Word of this soon spread among the neighboring tribes and many Indians came to exalt the victors for their warlike deed. The Mohican Nation, famous for its hunting and warrior traditions, ever after claimed the honor of killing the last Naked Bear.
Rev. Heckewelder reported in 1797 that the history of the Naked Bear was a common subject among the Indians when they were out hunting in the woods. He also heard them say to their children when they cried: "Hush! the naked bear will hear you, and devour you." Old Indians assured the minister that the story was true, according to the recollections of their forefathers.
No giant short-faced bear remains have been found in New York State. However, sea level rise and modern development have destroyed many interior and upland late Pleistocene sites. In addition, the regional climate at the time would have encouraged their presence in New York, perhaps as late as the oldest known Paleoindian sites.
While current radiocarbon dating of recovered remains suggests that extinction may have occurred about 12,000 years ago, given the time-depth and reach of Native American oral traditions, it would be of little surprise if such stories included legends of encounters with the incredible giant short-faced bear.
Reference: Kurtén, Bjorn, and Elaine Anderson. Pleistocene Mammals of North America. New York: Columbia University Press, 1980.
| Mariann Mantzouris | marimantz@aol.com |
| Sherry White | Sherry.White@mohican-nsn.gov |
| Lisa Little Wolf | Llittlewolf2@aol.com |
| Kevin Fuerst | kevomaryf@aol.com |
| Larry Thetford | thetfordl@webjogger.net |
The Wellbriety Journey for Forgiveness, a 40-day, 6,800-mile cross-country journey to 23 present and former Indian school sites, is scheduled to begin very soon onMay 16, 2009. It will be led by the Sacred Hoop of 100 Eagle Feathers and it will carry the message that historical trauma can be healed - and prevented from being passed on to yet another generation - through a willingness to “forgive the unforgivable.” Daylong workshops are planned at the school sites to share educational information about the schools, encourage open discussion in a facilitated talking circle format and to conduct healing ceremonies involving local tribal elders and mental health professionals to release the unresolved grief that school survivors and/or their descendants may still be carrying from trauma experienced at one of the schools.
An increasing body of evidence shows that intergenerational trauma is connected to suicides, substance abuse, domestic violence, child sexual abuse, family break-ups and diabetes which continue to plague Native American communities today. The Wellbriety Journey for Forgiveness will help begin the healing process in Native communities around the country. Despite vigorous fund raising efforts, we find ourselves well below the mark that we had hoped to achieve in terms of donations required to complete this journey. Many Native Americans have sent letters and comments sharing first-hand experience in terms of historical trauma and how critically important this journey is to them. Perhaps you have experienced the devastating effects of unresolved grief yourself, or have seen one of your loved ones affected by trauma.
Please take a moment to imagine how your support of at least one mile will assist White Bison in promoting healing and forgiveness among Native Americans across the country. Will you please help by donating $18.79 for one mile? If funding a mile isn’t within your means, even a small donation of $5.00 will help tremendously.
It is not too late to help, if only you act now
Please make at least a small contribution and let the healing begin!! Your tax deductible donation can be easily made one of several ways:
Check or money order payable to:
White Bison, Inc.
6145 Lehman Dr., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
Call our toll-free number (877-871-1495) and we will be happy to take your donation over the phone via Mastercard, Visa or American Express.
Visit our secure website at http://www.whitebison.org for donation via PayPal.
Thank you very much for your consideration of this request.
In Wellbriety,
Don Coyhis
President – White Bison, Inc.
HUDSON RIVER ALMANAC
June 8 - 15, 2009
Compiled by Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program Naturalist
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
<<<<< OVERVIEW >>>>>
This was a week of interesting and odd occurrences. It rained all week, including a wide swath of intense hailstorms that swept across the watershed from the Mid-Hudson Valley to the High Peaks of the Adirondacks. On the same day, a yearling moose visited the thoroughbred racetrack at Saratoga. Native black bears continued to remind us that there still is an element of wildness in the Hudson Valley.
<<<< HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK >>>>>
6/15 - Newcomb, HRM 302: I was headed home from work in late afternoon
and was stunned to see piles of "snow" along the roadside. I pulled
over, got out, and investigated. It was piles of hail stones! They were
about the size of peppercorns and deep enough to actually scoop a
handful. Three hours earlier there had been a hailstorm. If they were
still that big three hours later, it makes you wonder how big they were
when they hit.
-Ellen Rathbone
6/15 - Albany County, HRM 145: A heavy hai
lstorm took place this
evening, hitting a wide area of the Albany Pine Bush barrens. We will
need to check for damage to the lupines and the fragile population of
the Karner blue butterfly. After the storm, the ground looked like it
had a covering of snow.
-Ward Stone
6/15 - Town of Poughkeepsie, HRM 69: Looking out from the North Bowdoin
Park rockshelter, several hundred feet above the river on a dolomite
ridge, I could see the storm coming. A mile or more to the west, a line
of dark gray clouds dropped a heavy curtain of rain as it crossed the
river. I took shelter behind the "dripline," or overhang of a
prehistoric Indian rockshelter where human occupation dates back at
least 7,000 years. I wondered how often others had taken similar refuge
here. The storm struck with intense thunder and lightning; hail the size
of moth balls pelted the understory. As violent as hailstorms can be, I
still believe that they are one of the more spectacular sights in
nature. Then it ended and the sun came out. In a half-hour we had yet
another inch of rain - six inches in six days.
-Tom Lake
<<<<< NATURAL HISTORY NOTES >>>>>
6/8 - Hyde Park, HRM 82: As soon as I got out of my car this morning at
the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, I heard a call that
really caught my attention. It sounded like a periodical cicada, a
whirring pulse, preceded by a series of cli
cks. In a moment it came
again, a solitary call from high in a sugar maple; it was definitely one
of the three Magicicada species that emerge in huge swarms on a 17-year
clock. While the next brood is still 4 years away, for some reason
cicadas who miscount tend to miss by either one year either side of the
17-year target, or a confounding four years early. Other stragglers have
already been reported this spring from Staten Island.
-Karl Beard
The last big cicada brood in our area occurred in 1996. They sounded
like a flying saucer winding up to full power in your backyard. Before
that it was 1979, and I remember them that way as a child in 1962. Karl
Beard.]
[For a flashback to the cicadas of 1996, see Hudson River Almanac
(3):20,23-30,32. Here are two short 1996 entries:
June 5 - Wappinger Creek, HRM 68: As I walked among the tidal
Wappinger, I heard a sound that reminded me of H.G. Wells' War of the
Worlds. It had that same unfamiliar "alien-like" ring to it. This sound,
however, was being produced by native fauna, the seventeen-year cicada.
From every quarter I could hear dogs barking and someone yelled from
their window, "Shut up!" The appeal was to the cicadas, not the dogs.
Tom Lake.
June 12 - Roeliff Jansen Kill - Clermont, HRM 111-103.5: Along this
reach of the river, tremendous numbers of cicadas were emerging. The
sound was deafening. Robert Schmidt.]
6/8 - Fishkill, HRM 61: We have had an orchard oriole in our neighborhood for over a week; the male has been checking out a few elm trees presumably for a nest site.
-Stephen M. Seymour
6/8 - Cornwall-on-Hudson, HRM 56: I tried out the new Esty and Hellie
Stowell trailhead entrance onto the north face of Storm King Mountain
from Route 218). This trailhead now provides some much needed additional
parking spaces for accessing the eastern ends of the Stillman-Highland
trails that ascend this flank. It makes for a longer, steeper and more
challenging climb to the top of Storm King than is currently provided by
using the old Mountain Road trailhead, but the latter trailhead only
allows for the parking of a few cars and is therefore often fully
occupied. The entrance to the new trailhead is well marked on Route 218
by a prominent sign with the benefactors’ names. The trailhead parking
area is accessed by driving though a swing gate in a post-and-rail fence
at the end of the driveway loop, a further 0.10 mile past a private
residence. I didn't see the peregrines on my climb but I did see, at
last, a native honeysuckle. There was a flowering northern
bush-honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera) on the cliff face which, for me,
was the first time in the Hudson Valley that I've been able to identify
any other than the several invasive and pervasive species of Asiatic
honeysuckle.
-Bruce Friedman
6/9 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67.5: As I approached the edge of a
hay field, two small whitetail bucks in "velvet" froze in place. I did the
same. We stood there, 60 feet apart, for what seemed like a while but
only a few seconds. I could feel a cool southeast breeze on my back and
immediately they knew who I was and dashed away. Rain came down in
torrents as night fell eventually leaving an inch and a half.
-Tom Lake
[A male or buck whitetail deer's first set of antlers begins to grow
when they are about ten months old. "Velvet" is a fuzzy covering on
their antlers and is a natural protection for new growth. The velvet is
shed or rubbed off as the deer scrape their antlers against saplings and
small trees. "Rub marks" on hardwood trees are common in areas that have
whitetail deer. Tom Lake.]
6/9 - Beacon, HRM 61: I added another fish species to my catch list for
the Fishkill Creek estuary at Madame Brett Park: a healthy-looking 13"
rainbow trout. Since rainbow trout are not a native species in the
watershed, it was no doubt a wash-over from an upstream stocking.
-Stephen M. Seymour
6/9 - Brooklyn, New York City: The thunderstorms and rain broke long
enough for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy and Coastal Marine
Resource Center to kick off the public seining season at Brooklyn Bridge
Park. We seined under the Manhattan Bridge with an audience of about a
dozen students from Science Skills High School (Brooklyn) and about 15
children and adults from the20general public. We caught bay anchovy, a
naked goby, winter flounder, a windowpane flounder, northern pipefish,
sand shrimp (Crangon septemspinosa), and a hermit crab. Fragments of
"dead man's fingers" [blue crab gills] and a sponge (probably red beard
sponge) were also picked out of the net. Remnants of the invasive Asian
shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus and green crab (Carcinus maenas) were
found on the beach.
-Cynthia Fowx
6/10 - Saugerties, HRM 102.5: In late afternoon, about a quarter mile
north of Esopus Creek, I spotted three pairs of bluebirds on the lawn of
Arrowfield. There were no bluebird nesting boxes on site.
-Stefan Yarabek
6/10 - Tivoli North Bay, HRM 101.5: As we were driving down to the
canoe launch we spotted a snapping turtle laying eggs in the parking
area. A second snapping turtle was looking for a spot on the road a
little farther along, and a third was furiously digging in the unloading
zone at the head of the path. They were all about 6-8 pounds.
-Bob Schmidt, Nik Kotovich, Leah Pitman
6/10 - Poughkeepsie, HRM 75: Going to Waryas Park this morning to
kayak, I noticed a flock of geese occupying the boat ramp. I didn't
think much about it and focused on getting my kayak ready for launch. As
I shouldered the kayak and headed for the ramp I gave the birds a closer
look and realized that it was a flock of about 20 brant geese. The birds
took flight and settled about 100 feet out in the river allowing me to
launch and enjoy a paddle.
-Dave Webber
6/10 - Kowawese, HRM 59:
- River
Prolonged water,
Fresh, drinking water.
River flows into ocean,
Becomes salty water.
Colossal, water,
Ocean.
-Da'mani Burns, 6th Grade, Vails Gate Tech Magnet School
6/11 - Sandy Hook, NJ: This was a half-hour snapshot of nature in a
typical morning on my way to Sandy Hook: Out at 7:30 to get the
newspaper and coffee; on the way to the truck, I see the first male
zucchini flower of the season in the backyard vegetable garden; flushed
a nesting robin out of the sidewalk firethorn bush; the local black
squirrel was foraging outside the convenience store; laughing gulls
hovered over the Acme dumpster; nesting yellow warblers were in the
woods; three great egrets fished in the shallows of the Hook; then two
osprey nests with adults feeding the kids.
-Dery Bennett
6/12 - Newcomb, HRM 302: I helped an enormous snapper cross the road
this morning. I could see her lumbering across the road from a few
hundred feet away - she was that big. As soon as I stopped the car,
however, she stopped moving - not a good sign. Grabbing a long-handled
window ice scraper, I tried to coax her to the roadside. She was having
no part of it. She turned to face me and continually struck out. The
speed at which these animals can strike is stunning! She refused to
budge. I put a20cardboard the box in front of her and tried to push her
across the pavement. She opted to crawl into the box. With her head
safely out of range, I grabbed the flap of the box and tugged her to the
grassy verge. To get her out, I had to upend the box, and there she lay,
the proverbial turtle on her back. I went back for the window scraper
and flipped her back upright. Only two vehicles passed during this time.
I was very lucky no log trucks came by considering I had several pass me
earlier in the morning.
-Ellen Rathbone
6/12 - Town of Bethlehem, HRM 140: Torrential rain at Hendrick Hudson
Park on the Hudson River brought thoughts that too much rain up river
might make the dredging of PCB-laden sediments more difficult and
environmentally dangerous. As premature darkness set in, I thought that
if we are not careful with our monitoring and preventing dangerous
chemicals from entering the river water, the PCBs could be replaced by a
chemical "XYZ" that may even be worse.
-Ward B. Stone
6/12 - Hyde Park, HRM 82: In an update from five days ago, the poor
lone cicada sang solo all week.
-Karl Beard
6/12 - Town of Crawford, Orange County, HRM 58: We explored two of the
Dwaarkill's unnamed tributaries. The first, in Pine Bush, has a large
weatherfish population in very anaerobic [lacking oxygen] mud. The
second, off Route 52, has the mother lode of weatherfish - extremely
dense - one of which was an albino. These fish ranged from 4-8 inches
long, with females being the largest.
-Bob Schmidt, Alec Schmidt, Leah Pitman, Nik Kotovich
5/22 - Manhattan, HRM 2: This morning I spotted my first painted lady butterfly
of the season resting in the grass in Hudson River Park at Greenwich Village.
From there it went to feed on the salvia, now in full bloom, and basked in the
sun on the wood-chip mulch. Later I saw my first eastern tiger swallowtail
butterfly flying along the walkway beside the river, stopping at puddles for a
drink. Eventually it flew over the edge of the river wall to perch on the damp
algae growing there.
-Walter Laufer
6/12 - Brooklyn, New York City: I stared at the end of the Hudson
River, the Battery, from the Brooklyn Promenade. The scene was nothing
Henry Hudson could have comprehended: the Staten Island Ferry began its
lumbering route across the Statue of Liberty's green silhouette, the
glass of the city's skyline reflected both cars and boats. Then, up
above the horizon was a scene that would have brought joy to both the
explorer and his Half Moon crew: an apricot sunset streaming through the
parted remnants of the afternoon's thundershowers. How could Henry have
ever guessed at this 400 years ago?
-Dave Taft
6/13 - Milan, HRM 90: I spotted the bear this morning trying to open
one of the two bird houses it pulled down. The bear finally gave up
after it could not open the box and decided to see what was for
breakfast at the house. I was able to discourage that plan and it moved
off toward my neighbor's house. My neighbors are reporting a second,
reportedly larger, black bear also in the area.
-Frank Margiotta
6/13 - Beacon, HRM 61: I caught four carp today off Long Dock, the
biggest of which was 19 lb, 3 oz. The others were all in the 10 lb.
range, one of which I weighed at 10 lb. 9 oz. A big fish hit on my
second rod while I was still reeling in one of the ten pounders. I
handed the rod to another fisherman and grabbed the second, a
conventional [reel] and rod that requires some drag adjustment before
reeling in the fish. This turned out to be the nineteen pounder. The
carp spawning out in the water chestnut near shore was a sight to
behold: constant geysers from the beginning of the walkway a mile south
to Denning's Point. I also caught my first channel catfish of the year,
each about a pound-and-half.
-Bill Greene
6/13 - West Point, HRM 52: Although the day was cloudy and gloomy, we
ventured out on a U.S. Army boat cruise on the Hudson. For most of the
day, the river matched the color of the sky: a passing shower, followed
by patches of blue sky. The dark green foliage on the mountains was
accentuated by the dullness of the sky behind them. We didn't see as
many birds as we expected. Near Constitution Island, we spotted a
double-crested cormorant perched on a channel marker and saw two gulls
and two turkey vultures flying overhead. Thirteen cormorants were spread
out across the rocks at the base of a channel marker near Bannerman's
Island. Despite the very few birds, we agreed that observing the Hudson
River from this different perspective was a most enjoyable experience.
-Dorothy Ferguson, Bob Ferguson
6/13 - Sleepy Hollow, HRM 28: While I was crossing the dam bridge over
the Pocantico River Mill Pond at Philipsburg Manor today, a beaver
suddenly come up from under the water and climbed up to embankment on
the Visitors Center side. It started to eat a few small branches, then
gathered a few more in its mouth and made a quick descent back into the
water. The beaver came up again in the middle of the pond and swam
towards the "Headless Horseman" bridge on Route 9. In my nearly 30 years
of spending much time in the woods and along rivers, this was my first
sighting of a beaver in the wild. I have always seen their dams and
habitats, but have never seen one until now. It was a truly memorable
day for me.
-Wade Schultz
6/14 - Saugerties, HRM 102.5: In mid-afternoon, about a quarter mile
north of Esopus Creek, four red fox kits romped with their mother at
edge of meadow just above shoreline at Arrowfield.
-Stefan Yarabek
6/14 - Town of Poughkeepsie, HRM 68.5: An overnight downpour made it
four inches of rain in four days. I have seen and heard common crows
harassing red-tailed hawks; it is a common occurrence throughout the
year. Today, however, I heard a strange medley of bird noise and across
an opening in the forest canopy came three fish crows hot on the tail of
a red-tail. I have always thought that fish crows were far too dignified
to stoop to such antics.
-Tom Lake
6/14 - Brooklyn, New York City: I don't exactly know what I saw while
negotiating the exit ramp from the Verrazano-Narrow
s Bridge to the Belt
Parkway at Bay Ridge, but there was a pair of peregrine falcons flying
about. One seemed to be chasing the other, but without the aggression of
a territorial dispute. Perhaps one was a parent, the other a young hawk
on an early flight from the nest. One way or the other it was surely
more amusing, and far faster moving, than anything on the exit ramp.
-Dave Taft
6/15 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67.5: A long and continuous line of
severe thunder and lightning storms swept across the river overnight,
leaving another inch of rain - five inches in five days. For a change,
the amorous barred owls were quiet; the two of them were probably
looking for an ark.
-Tom Lake
6/15 - Saratoga Springs, HRM 177: A yearling cow moose was spotted
wandering Broadway, a main thoroughfare in Saratoga Springs, in the
early-morning hours. By 6:00 AM, she had wandered onto the grounds of
Saratoga Race Course. Track security opened an entrance to the grounds
in order to keep the moose out of harm's way. Staff from the NYSDEC
arrived and tranquilized the moose, estimated to be a little more than a
year old and weighing 500-600 pounds. The moose was removed, taken 20
miles north of Saratoga, and released into an area where there is a
known moose population.
-Tom Lake
<<<<< SPRING 2009 NATURAL HISTORY PROGRAMS >>>>>
Saturday, June 27, 2009, 8:00-10:00 PM
Songs for the River: Betty and the Baby Boomers in Concert. Free.
Norrie Point Environmental Center, Staatsburg [Dutchess County].
Information: 845-889-4745 x105.
Thursday July 2, 2009, 7:30 - 8:30 PM
Tivoli Bays Talks: The Hudson Before Hudson, Dave Conover. Free.
Tivoli Bays Visitor Center, Tivoli [Dutchess County].
Information: 845-889-4745 x105.
Saturday July 11, 2009
Archaeology Days - New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site, Yonkers.
Information: 914-965-4027
1:30 PM - Hudson River Prehistory lecture by Tom Lake, Hudson River Estuary Program Naturalist and Almanac compiler.
Saturday July 18, 2009, 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Fishing the River at Norrie: Public seining and angling, equipment provided. Free.
Norrie Point Environmental Center, Staatsburg [Dutchess County].
Information: 845-889-4745 x108.
<<<<< 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. Entries from points east and west in the watershed reference the corresponding river mile on the mainstem.
<<<<< TO CONTRIBUTE YOUR OBSERVATIONS OR TO SUBSCRIBE >>>>>
Share your observations by e-mailing them to trlake7@aol.com by 9:00 pm on the Monday previous to publication. See something really special? Give us a call at (845)297-8935.
The Hudson River E-Almanac is compiled and edited by Tom Lake and emailed weekly by DEC's Hudson River Estuary Program. To sign up to receive the E-Almanac (or to unsubscribe), send an email message to hrep@gw.dec.state.ny.us and write E-Almanac in the subject line.
Weekly issues are archived at http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/25611.html . The DEC website's search engine can find species, locations, and other data in the archives.
Conservationist magazine brings nature to your door. 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. For a free, no-obligation issue go to http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/conservationist.html
<<<<< USEFUL LINKS >>>>>
National Ocean Service 2009 tide predictions are online at http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tides09/ . Tidal current predictions for 2009 are at http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/currents09/
Information on the movements of the salt front in the Hudson estuary is presented by the U.S. Geological Survey: http://ny.water.usgs.gov/projects/dialer_plots/saltfront.html .
Information about the Hudson River Estuary Program is available on DEC's website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4920.html
For real-time information on Hudson River weather and water conditions from six monitoring stations, visit the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System website at http://hudson.dl.stevens-tech.edu/hrecos/ .
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
