| You may have noticed
the last few months' records have included reports from HRA
(Hudson River Almanac). From 1994 to 2001 the entries
for the Hudson River Almanac were collected by Tom Lake (our
speaker for the annual dinner in November) and published
annually by the NYS DEC. They are a series of nature
observations from anyone who cares to contribute anywhere
along the Hudson
River. Reading them takes you through the seasons up
and down our river valley.
Now the Almanac is published weekly
in the form of an email. You can subscribe to it and
read the previous week's natural history notes. I've
subscribed and I extract the bird sightings from Dutchess
County to add to our records. If you
have email, try it. The accounts are a delight. As a sample, here
is Tom's
introduction
to the Almanac for Sept 25-Oct 2:
The autumn blues have nothing to do with music;
they are the sapphire skies, the air filled with blue jays
and bluebirds, the water with bluefish and blue
crabs, and more great blue herons passing through than we have seen in
recent years. There is so much to observe with creatures
getting ready for, or migrating
away from, winter. We will not see this much activity over, on, and
under the water until next April.
Some accounts from the same issue...
9/27 - Furnace Woods, HRM
38.5: I was awakened by a loud cry at 2:30 AM. I
stepped out onto the porch to hear more
clearly. Crickets and katydids were
singing by
the light of a near-full moon, and then the cry came again — a
short-eared owl, just across the road. It did not seem the right
time or place for this bird,
but there it was. Christopher Letts
9/28 - Town of Wappinger, HRM 67: The rain from tropical storm Jeanne
began just before first light this morning. A short while earlier,
I was awakened
by a short-eared
owl, calling less than a quarter mile away. After five minutes it stopped. Almost
immediately the rains came. By 8:00 AM we had an inch. By day's
end we had 2.87". Tom Lake
To subscribe, send an email message to
and type E-Almanac in the subject line. For
more information see NYSDEC's
Hudson River Almanac website -- the link is also on our
web links page. Consider also contributing your
own nature experiences. |
