Hudson Valley Eagle Trail

     When the ice first starts to appear on the Hudson, we know to start looking for our most popular winter visitors - the majestic Bald eagle.  We were "blessed" with an unusually cold start to the winter season this year with two solid weeks of sub-freezing temperatures between Christmas and January 8.  Tomorrow is the first time this year that it will "warm" up to a balmy mid 30s kind of day.  The good news is that early freeze brings early eagles and they are already here in big numbers.

     When we see ice on the river, we know that much of the open water north of us up into the Adirondacks and beyond is locked in with ice and the eagles can therefore not get to their favourite food source - fish.  The lower Hudson Valley, however, will usually have open water on the river due to the geography of the place.  The sharp turns around West Point and Bear Mountain as well as the activity of the ice breakers attempting to keep this commercial waterway open means that although ice is on the river, there are plenty of open areas in which the eagles can hunt.

     A number of years ago, Sharon and I plotted out a route from the Bear Mt. Bridge down to the Croton Train Station where we could easily drive to and observe the eagles out on the river and on the adjacent riverbanks.  I decided to check out the route in spite of the relatively early date to see if the ice had brought the birds down to us.  I was not disappointed!

     First stop was the overlook just south of the Bear Mt. Bridge from which you can park and look down upon Iona Island.  With plenty of ice jamming up around this bend and several great "eagle trees" for the birds to perch, this is often a productive spot.  Sadly, today the eagles were not to be found here.  They may well have been out checking other areas of the valley, or perhaps the usual haunts were not in use yet.  During the Spring, we saw several juvenile resident birds here as we helped with the semi-annual wildlife inventory for Harriman State Park, but I could not locate a single eagle with the scope from this great vantage point.  After about 15 minutes of checking, I decided to move on to stop 2.


 

 The next stop is the Annsville Creek Paddlesport Center which is reached by continuing south from Stop 1.  Even before pulling into the parking lot, I spotted a handsome adult sitting in a tree just across the road from the parking lot.  A pair of eagles has nested for the past several years in a spot not too distant from here, but the last couple of times I checked, the site appeared to be abandoned.   The parking area abuts Peekskill Bay which can be very productive when the eagles are here in big numbers.  Today, however, the entire body of water from the lot to the railroad beds crossing the bay was frozen solid.  When there is open water here, eagles, Common mergansers, Canvasbacks, Cormorants, and other water fowl can be observed in big numbers.  Today, it was just this one eagle keeping watch over the frozen expanses.






     Next stop, China Pier located just north of the Indian Point Power Plant.  We often see eagles out on the ice here, riding the flows up and down the river and looking for a quick meal passing by.  Three years ago while in the lot looking across for the eagles, I spotted a Coyote that had somehow gotten itself stranded out on the ice in the middle of the bay.  It was running back and forth, looking for a way to get off the ice and back onto terra firma, but when I left after about a half hour of watching the canine, he had not succeeded in escaping the ice.  He was probably close enough to swim to shore, but I'm not sure how long he would last in the 32 degrees water.

Coyote on the frozen Peekskill Bay - March 3, 2015

     I continued south down to Crystal Bay, site of Spins Hudson Marina.  From the parking lot here, I could see two juvenile eagles sitting on the ice.  As I scanned the trees along the western bank of this small bay, I counted 4 more eagles including one adult.  I could hear another calling from a distance, but could not locate that bird.  As I watched the pair, a third flew in to join them.  Well, two's company and three's a crowd. As the third juvenile flew in, one of the pair took flight while the other stood its ground.  After a brief spat, the third intruder left the scene and the lone youngster was left on his own.  So before leaving I tallied 7 eagles at this spot....not too bad for this early in January .

     Next destination was King's Ferry in Verplanck.  While too distant to photograph, I did count another 5 Bald eagles perched on the opposite side of the river at Stony Point Battlefield.  Several years ago threre was an active nest at the park, but Mother Nature sent along several storms which eventually made the nest too unstable for the eagles.  They had moved across the River to George's Island, our next stop.  Meanwhile, we continued to scour the river and did find several large rafts of Common mergansers, many Ring-billed gulls, several Black ducks and Mallards.  Again, as the season wears on, you can be assured that scoping the river both north and south from this vantage point will yield many a fine view of our national symbol. 

     Finally, I made one last stop at George's Island along Haverstraw Bay.  The small embayment at George's Island was frozen solid, but I did find one lone juvenile bird perched deep in the woods on the point extending out into the River.  As with some of the other spotting cites, when there is just a little less ice and a bit more open water, this can be a very productive area.  One of the other folks out chasing eagles this morning told me that this was the "hot spot" yesterday with close to a dozen eagles spotted here.   

     As the winter wears on, the sightings will surely become more and more frequent as long as there is ice on the river.  With 13 eagles spotted today on a rather speedy trip down the east shore of the river, it bodes well for things to come during this beautiful time of year in the Hudson Valley.