Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

Now with a strange title like that, you have to be wondering: "What on earth is this guy talking about?!" What I'm referring to is the intoxicating smell that wafts off of a bluegill sunfish after having played it from the water and into the hand. Fishing is filled with many interesting smells. They range from the neglected soft plastics slowly oozing into a indeterminate mass at the bottom of a tackle box to the powdery outside of trout "marshmallows" in their highlighter pinks and greens. It even extends to the often noxious baits used by catfish aficionados to beguile a large channel cat from the depths of a muddy river. There are so many natural smells to choose from as well. The pond I visited was located at Skaneateles Conservation Area just up the road from Marcellus. As I exited the car, the scent of honeysuckle and roses brimming with honeybees filled the air. The stick-in-your-nose smell of dried grass and soil drifted by as I started up ...

Imagine a quiet river ambling by on a warm summers eve. The sun is starting its downward shuffle towards the horizon and a warm glow fills the skies above. I have to be honest, I was worried about finding a quiet spot to go fishing in the city or even just outside.  Cities, in my opinion, are atrocities (no pun intended). Entirely too many people shunted into many small spaces with the expectation that they will get along with one another. It's an introverts nightmare and personally, I have made it my mission to get outside the city of Syracuse as much as possible. The city itself isn't all that bad. I'm still not used to being in such close proximity with my fellow species, Homo sapiens and don't know if time will change that, but until then, I will continue to escape to the countryside come the weekend. I'm lucky to have so many interests in the outdoors and have been blessed with an internal drive to experience nature up close. Whether it was Beaver Lake a fe...