New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

ice

After Icebergs: A NY Artist’s 1859 Arctic Adventure

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after icebergs with a painterThe new edition of After Icebergs with a Painter A Summer Voyage to Labrador and around Newfoundland (Black Dome Press, 2022), by Louis Legrand Noble with an introduction by William L. Coleman, looks at an internationally renowned American artist of fame and fortune at the very peak of his powers.

A pastor and lauded writer with a sharp eye for revealing and humorous detail, Noble describes a journey fraught with danger and drama aboard the schooner Integrity to the latitudes where icebergs dwell with Hudson River School painter Frederic Church. [Read more…] about After Icebergs: A NY Artist’s 1859 Arctic Adventure

Icicles, Snow Doughnuts, and Hair Ice

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bulbous icicles hang from a branch over a river courtesy Wikimedia user Matthew.kowal A few winters ago, I snowshoed along a trail that led below a series of cliffs with rows of huge, hanging icicles. These icicles were up to 40 feet long, with colors ranging from blue-green to yellowish-brown. In some spots, the icicles extended from clifftop to base, forming thick columns of ice. This spectacular display was created by water from melting snow and underground seeps dripping off the cliffs, refreezing, and building up over time. Minerals leached out of rock and soil can contribute to the colors of icicles. [Read more…] about Icicles, Snow Doughnuts, and Hair Ice

Three Ice Fishermen Die After Falling Through Champlain Ice

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Lake Champlain thin iceThe 43rd Annual Islands Ice Fishing Derby on Lake Champlain was cancelled Saturday morning, February 11th, following warm weather that led to dangerously thin ice resulting in the deaths of three anglers.

Just as the derby was kicking off, the Grand Isle County Sheriff’s Department issued a request that it be cancelled immediately due to poor ice conditions. “All ice anglers are asked to get off the ice,” event organizers posted to Facebook at 8 am. [Read more…] about Three Ice Fishermen Die After Falling Through Champlain Ice

Water Boatmen During Winter

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Water boatman active under the ice courtesy Wikimedia user Oceanflynn If you get a chance this winter, take a peek through the icy window of a pond surface. You may see water boatmen (order Hemiptera: Family Corixidae) clinging to the pond floor.

Long oar-like hind legs propel these insects, inspiring their common name. Shorter, scoop-like front legs are used for feeding and singing. [Read more…] about Water Boatmen During Winter

Hair Ice and Frost Flowers

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TOS_FrostFlowersIf you are out walking on a winter morning, you might be lucky enough to see some of nature’s most beautiful and ephemeral sights: hair ice and frost flowers, both snow-white and delicate against the dull forest floor. [Read more…] about Hair Ice and Frost Flowers

Trees, Knees, and Other Deep-Freeze Creaks

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Conifers in winter courtesy Wikimedia user Olga ErnstIn winter, when temperatures dip well below zero Fahrenheit, especially if they fall precipitously, things go bump in the night. Frozen lakes and ponds emit ominous groans, snaps and booms that reverberate through the ice. Wood siding and old knee joints might creak. And if soil moisture is high and snow cover sparse, the soil can freeze deeply, causing the earth to shift in a harmless, localized cryoseism, or “frost quake” that produces a nerve-rattling bang. [Read more…] about Trees, Knees, and Other Deep-Freeze Creaks

Diapause & Insect Winter Inactivity

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Adirondack lake ice during a winter thawThe unseasonably mild conditions we have been experiencing this winter has been unusual, but is not unprecedented. In the past, there have been numerous bouts of warm weather and limited snowfalls that have produced similar periods when the ground became bare and the temperatures frequently rose above freezing. [Read more…] about Diapause & Insect Winter Inactivity

Iced-In Loon Rescued From Adirondack Lake

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ACLC staff rescues loon from First LakeOn December 14th, the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation received a report of an iced-in loon on First Lake in Herkimer County. On December 15th, ACLC staff and volunteers responded to attempt to save the bird. The rescue team included Cody Sears, Jay Locke, Gary Lee, Don Andrews, and Kurt Gardner. [Read more…] about Iced-In Loon Rescued From Adirondack Lake

The Fulton Fish Market: A History

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The Fulton Fish MarketThe Fulton Fish Market stands out as an iconic New York institution. At first a neighborhood retail market for many different kinds of food, it became the nation’s largest fish and seafood wholesaling center by the late nineteenth century.

Waves of immigrants worked at the Fulton Fish Market and then introduced the rest of the city to their seafood traditions. In popular culture, the market — celebrated by Joseph Mitchell in The New Yorker — conjures up images of the bustling East River waterfront, late-night fishmongering, organized crime, and a vanished working-class New York. [Read more…] about The Fulton Fish Market: A History