A linden tree?

Hi Bill, just got my laptop back from the clinic. Thanks for the link.
I looked up the Linden or Basswood, I want one! They appear to be
fairly rare.

I went in again today, scent still lingering, a bit more pungent.
It's only about 90' wide by 400' long with a wide swath cut out
for power lines. I can't find anything but the Maples, poke cherries and Sumac.

Black Locust and Basswood both have pretty distinctive bark, no helpful
cloud of bees, I'm about beat. I'm grateful it's there, I'd just
love to know what it is!

Russian olive?

No sign of a Russian olive in there, I think they flower in June.
My neighbor has now suggested that SOME parts of the rampant Honeysuckle
flower may be fragrant, but elusive up close, to me they have no smell
whatever. This is confusing. I'll go take a closer look.

Here in Ulster our rampant Russian olives have been in bloom for at least a week. Lucky if there's no sign of them!

I think I may have found the answer to this mystery.
Reading Beverley Nichols recently, he mentions the heady
fragrance of the flowering wild grapes!
An online search bears this out.
That may indeed be it, there are huge old grape vines in
the wild area whence the heavenly wafts come.

I can't wait til May to test the theory (or smell it again!)

I have a Halesia Carolina in my yard, and every year in late Spring I am drawn to the area where it's planted by an incredible scent. The flowers remain on the tree only for about a week and a half, so I can't be sure if it's the Halesia, or the wild honeysuckle. I can't find a reference on the net that says that the Halesia is a fragrant plant, but it's a real magnet for me in the spring. If you look around your area for the seed pods/drupes, and find them, we may have solved a mutual mystery. Please keep me informed. Thanks.

Maybe it's someone's clothes dryer fabric softener coming out the vent.

definately russian olive

Perhaps an old Honey Locust. Follow your nose to it when it is next in bloom. Years ago we lived near an open field with a large Honey Locust. The intense fragrance drifted 300 yards to our house. Spectacular!

Russian olive bushes.
Daphne (not wild - but has agreat fragrance)
ChokeCherry - licorice fragrance.
StarGazer lily (later in summer)

Honey locust is beginning to bloom right now, I was happily weeding when a drift of the wonderful smell came over me yesterday. It was reminiscent of Daphne or spice bush viburnum.