Greetings,

Today while spending some time on the Hudson River with my father, I had an early morning spotting of a Belted Kingfisher just north of Cheviot in Columbia County. The bird flew from perch to perch along large clumps of brush and trees that were remnants of an old island further out in the river. Interestingly enough, we spotted the bird making several plunge dives, but I could not tell if they were successful. One would expect that for kingfisher to be hanging out this late in the season, it is finding food in the still open, flowing river. However, my thoughts and preconceptions were that most baitfish, and other invertebrates would probably move deeper into the river as the ambient temperature dropped.

It would be interesting to hear from anyone who might have first hand experience with baitfish movements in a riverine system.