Outdoors

On the morning of May 27 a heavy sigh of relief was palpable along the well-worn docks of Montauk Harbor. Despite a dense blanket of fog that blended into the placid, dark water, there was a buzz and banter that had not been heard for many months.

Charter and party boat captains, eager to get back to their livehoold and get clients back on the water, finally got the chance to do so this week.

Amber Waves Farm is holding an outdoor seedling sale this weekend, offering 70 varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The sale runs Saturday through Monday from 9 a.m. to noon each day at 367 Main Street in Amagansett.

I was completely baffled. For over 10 minutes on Sunday morning, the screen of the fish finder to the left of my helm seat clearly showed the contours of the sandy bottom 45 feet below. However, the markings of any life, fish that is, were totally absent from view. From the look of things, apparently nobody was home.

“When the wind is in the east, it’s for neither man nor beast. When the wind is in the north, the old folk should not venture forth. When the wind is in the south, it blows the bait in the fishes’ mouth. When the wind is in the west, it is of all the winds the best.”

Despite below normal water temperatures, things are starting to open up on the fishing front at least, especially in areas west of Montauk.

This was the third winter that Heather Caputo, Spencer Schneider, Mike Bottini, and Jeremy Grosvenor have been swimming three or four times a week at various spots in the ocean and in the bay.

Meteorological wishes notwithstanding, it has not been a surprise to see our local water temperatures drop. On a jaunt to my lobster traps last weekend, I saw 47-degree water at Cedar Point to the entrance of Gardiner’s Bay, a 3-degree drop from a week earlier.

Marinas and boatyards, which had been deemed non-essential under the governor's New York on PAUSE executive order, have been allowed to open, giving people happy to social-distance with fishing gear in hand reason to celebrate.

The South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center has introduced a new digital program to help people stay connected to nature while stuck at home helping to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Unable to sell a 1,000-pound catch of fluke last week, Capt. Chuck Morici of the dragger Act 1 spent three days filleting the fish at Montauk commercial dock and offering it for free straight from his boat. On Saturday morning, he gave it away from the back of his pickup truck in downtown Montauk, a big handwritten sign announcing, “Free Fish.”

Halfway through March, chipmunks are up for good, it would seem. I see ours almost every morning running about, looking hale and sassy.

As of this week, spring officially arrives. While it’s pretty clear we will be dealing with the effects of the virus for the foreseeable future, I’m putting forth in solitude, preparing my boat for the season and launching my lobster traps into the still-cold waters.

The eastern bluebird, the New York State bird, is the only North American thrush that doesn’t build a typical nest in a tree or bush during breeding season. It lays its eggs in a hole in a tree or a nonliving substitute, a bird box.

For the last 81 and 67 years, annual end-of-the-year, or Christmas, bird counts have taken place without fail in two nearby areas, Quogue to Water Mill, and Central Suffolk. The tradition lives on and is increasingly revealing.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s commissioner announced on Friday the detection of a coccidian parasite in a sample of bay scallops collected from the Peconic Bays, which is believed to have contributed to the massive die-off discovered in the fall of 2019.

The theory of evolution is still intriguing. It is “survival of the fittest” in one sense, but not totally so. And it’s going on all around us today.

Squirrels are the closest thing to monkeys that I can think of in our area. Not only are they consummate climbers but they can also jump from branch to branch and tree to tree, using their furry tails as ailerons to guide them as they fly through the air.

The East End of Long Island came into being more than 10,000 years ago. Up until the present time the North and South Forks have been wearing away, first by the melting of the thick sheets of ice covering them — the South Fork first, then the North Fork as the glaciers melted away and retreated.

Tight Lines Tackle on Bay Street in Sag Harbor is jammed from the roof to the floorboard with just about every kind of tackle, apparel, and bait imaginable. You name it, you will likely find it.

Southampton Town has more than 60 freshwater ponds. Most of these ponds are contaminated to this or that degree, but the most contaminated are given a label by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation that speaks to their fragility.

Last Thursday we were visited by a full moon. It was mostly hidden by clouds, but just because the seas can’t see the moon dosen’t mean they don’t feel its tug.

A New York State Department of Environmental Conservation conditional shellfish harvest program that was to open the northern section of Accabonac Harbor yesterday has been postponed at least until Tuesday because of the recent rainfall.     

The timing was perfect. Last Thursday’s full moon, backed by a strong wind, finally brought in a great low tide. It had been at least nine months since I’d witnessed one of such magnitude. Its significance also prompted me to head over to one of my favorite sand flats to dig up some steamer clams.

They seem like national holidays these days. I’m not referring to National Fruitcake Toss Day or National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (yes, they do really exist); I’m talking about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For better or worse, these two days are marked on many a household calendar, and just about every consumer has latched on to them with great enthusiasm.

The rumors of a lousy scallop season appear likely to be true, according to The Star's fishing columnist, whose early-season reconnaissance mission turned up almost nothing in all of his usual haunts.

I wake up, look out the window, and instead of Noyac Bay and North Haven beyond, I’m looking at the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Cruz Island looming up in the background. One day it’s one view, the next day another. Three thousand miles apart, but the water is blue, the sky cloudy, the country one and the same.

Just as the Norway rat may be the most adept of all the mammals, gulls — in particular, the herring gull — may be the most adept of all the birds.

It was déjà vu all over again and again. The weather, especially the wind, has been relentless of late. It started early on Oct. 8 and finally blew itself out by Sunday. Chicago may be dubbed the Windy City, but the eastern end of Long Island can certainly hold its own when accounting for prolonged periods of gusty weather.

Coming off the new moon, the incoming tide was screaming as we approached the rip. Combined with an east wind, it was running at over four knots, and according to the tide chart slack water was only 45 minutes away.