Outdoors

As we enter the apex of the dog days of summer, the fishing scene has shifted into a lower and slower gear. "While some weakfish, porgy, and a few kingfish are around locally, the better fishing now is off to the east where the waters are cooler," said Ken Morse, the proprietor of Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor.

This is the sixth large whale stranding in New York this year and the fourth dead humpback reported in 2020, according to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.

Because striped bass are so popular and so heavily pursued, the stocks of the linesider have gone through some rather severe ups and downs over the past few decades. Most seem to agree that the current fishery is in a rather precarious position, but efforts to help conserve stripers are extensive.

A North Haven osprey nest was the scene of a dramatic rescue last week after part of it collapsed, dashing two chicks to the ground.

I’m a very tall guy with Sasquatch-like size-16 feet. It does not take a mathematician or physicist to conclude that this does not equate to safely entering, exiting, or just remaining stable when paddling around my nearby back bays, estuaries, and coves. Science has proved that it’s impossible to stuff 10 pounds of potatoes into a five-pound bag.

It was an excursion I was looking forward to. Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic, other than checking on my lobster traps and doing a bit of fishing on my boat, I have not ventured far from home. I’ve been playing it safe.

The weekend of June 27 and 28 is "free fishing weekend" in New York, when all residents are encouraged by the State Department of Environmental Conservation to try their hand at some local fishing. This is the second of six free fishing events in the year.

Many businesses have struggled to survive during the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic shutdown, but one niche industry is witnessing solid sales. Bait and tackle shops around Long Island have seen a significant uptick in business as more people take up fishing as a social distancing pastime.

Tony Caramanico of Montauk was recently inducted into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame for "having made the most significant contributions to the sport, thereby preserving their historical significance and the sport's cultural lore for future generations." He was one of 10 singled out for this honor from a list of 200.

As if we didn't have enough to be concerned about these days, Mother Nature has been in a rather ornery mood of late. I'm not sure what's ticked her off, but her unpredictable exploits have left a mark in many parts of the world, including our area.

The Accabonac Protection Committee and the Hamptons Observatory will host a virtual sky-watching event on Monday evening.

They have been around for a very long time. Well before even dinosaurs roamed and roared about the planet.

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.