Cold weather and water bring new sights to the Hudson River. Occasionally I even spot eagles on ice floats or soaring above the Palisades! So upon my return from the holidays, I took a walk down to Beczak’s riverfront at low tide. I saw small pieces of flat ice along the shoreline, and a giant, flat piece of ice lodged in the marsh’s channel.The stranded pancake of ice in Beczak’s marsh is a result of the Hudson River’s tides. Because the Hudson is an estuary—which means that the salty tides of the Atlantic Ocean regularly rise and flood the river—the Hudson River has a high tide and low tide. It takes about six hours to go from high tide to low tide.
As the last tide fell and water drained from Beczak’s marsh, the ice float sank to the mud and was left behind in the channel.
It was truly a beautiful scene to bring in 2009.
Vicky Garufi
Education Program Manager
