A Flock of Seagulls...

As I was leaving the pier for Harbor Beach, I saw a couple of seagulls. As I've said before, I really like the look of seagulls even though they can be pretty annoying at times.

One of the seagulls.

A flock of seagulls.

Another seagull.

The Harbor Beach Lighthouse

Harbor Beach is called the greatest freshwater manmade harbor in the world. On the end of a breakwater is the lighthouse which was built in 1871 to replace a wooden structure that was there in 1855. It shares its design with the Detroit River Light.

It is now automated.

Although it is kind of difficult to see, to the right is a ship. I'm not quite sure what ship it is though.

A shot of the lighthouse itself.

White Rock Memorial Lighthouse

This is a lighthouse that was built to commemorate the lighthouse that was originally there but burnt down in 1871. This lighthouse is between Sanilac and Harbor Beach.

A shot of the lighthouse from the front.

A shot of the tower.

A shot of the lighthouse from roughly an angle. It is a pretty neat looking place but it is a private house and not a lighthouse.

One I Forgot

While I was in Detroit, I wanted a better picture of the American Integrity, so I stopped by the Milliken State Harbor and got a couple of pictures of the lighthouse there.

This is a picture of a sailboat leaving the harbor.

Another shot of the lighthouse.

A Couple of Ships

After the encampment, I decided to head up to Harbor Beach because I wanted to get a picture of the lighthouse there since I didn't get one the last time I was up that way. Every so often I would look out towards Lake Huron and I saw a couple of ships.

While I was still at the encampment, I saw this ship out on Lake St. Clair. I think this may be either the American Integrity or John J. Boland. I thought it was pretty cool since I just saw this in Detroit.

I'm not sure what ship this but I think she is one of the barge ships.

The Voyageur Encampment

So my next stop for the day was the Voyageur Encampment at Metro Beach. The voyageurs were the French fur trappers that ended up settling this area at first. Then they were replaced by the British and eventually this area became part of the United States.

This is a pair of men dressed up like fur traders. This was a pretty neat event and I was happy to see the various people there.

This guy is dressed up like a French Marine.

The guy on the left is a friend from college that I hadn't seen in a while. It was pretty cool to meet up with him again. He gave a presentation on the British military presence in Detroit and it was very informative.

Here he was giving a presentation about the differences from the uniforms of the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. It was pretty interesting.

Here is another British soldier.

A British Engineer.

This guy is dressed up like a Cree Native American.

A Voyageur.

Another shot of my friend.

this is him in a field uniform. The coat is cut shorter and the hat is a little more useful than the Tri-corner they usually wear.

Not sure what kind of skull this is.

A basket of arrowheads.

A basket of beads.

Another Native American. I really like the necklace he is wearing.

Another shot of the Cree guy.

A fiddle player.

And A Squirrel....

And I saw this squirrel.

A Butterfly

In between ships, I saw this butterfly flitting around, so I decided it needed to have its picture taken.

The Frontenac Again...

As I was heading up Belle Isle, I saw this ship. It was a ship I had seen before.

http://michiganexposures.blogspot.com/2010/08/frontenac.html

As such, I'm not going to type much about this one.





I think there is a dock around here because I remember seeing a ship leaving roughly this spot.

The American Integrity

As I was heading down to Detroit, I saw this ship in the river. I'm not sure if she was docked or stopped for a bit. But anyways, she was there and I had my camera, so....

The American Integrity was another ship that built in two parts. She originally started her life as Lewis Wilson Foy and was built by the Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in 1978. She was originally owned by the Bethlehem Steel Company.

In 1990, she was sold to the Ogleby Norton Company. In 2006, she was sold to the American Steamship company and got her current name.

She is 1000 feet long (which I believe is the longest a ship can be and still go through the Soo Locks) and can carry 78,500 tons.

John J Boland

I decided to go up to Metro Beach for a Voyageur Encampment (more on that later) and before I left I decided to check the boat site to see if ther would be a ship passing through Detroit around the time I would be passing through. I was happy to find out that there would be a ship at that time, so a short detour to Belle Isle was in order. This was the first ship I saw.

The John J. Boland was built as the Charles E. Wilson in 1973 by the Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin for the American Shipbuilding Company. In 2000, she was renamed the John J. Boland as the orginal ship with that name was sold to Lower Lakes Towing and renamed the Saginaw.

She can sale up to 13 knots and is a self unloader. She was the first ship to enter service under an act that was used to beef up the American Merchant Marine.

She is 680 feet long and can carry 33,800. She remains very active on the Great Lakes.

And of course...

No trip to Crosswinds Marsh would be complete without some pictures of the aircraft (at least from my point of view). At first I didn't think the winds were right or something as the planes weren't coming my way. That changed quickly though and I was happy.

This is an Embrear 175, which is a Brazillian plane.

This is an Airbus 319 or 320 (I get the two confused).

A Delta 757. This is probably one of my favorite commercial planes because it looks so graceful.

This is an Airbus something or other.

A Delta 737. This is another one of my favorites.

A Southwest 737.

It was getting late so this was my last shot of the evening.

Crosswinds Marsh...Again...

So I got my camera back on Tuesday. The folks at the Canon Repair facility are pretty awesome as it was roughly a one week turn around time. They fixed the damaged shutter and they also replaced part of my body. Thanks guys.

I really couldn't get out to take pictures until tonight so I decided to break my camera in properly with a trip to Crosswinds Marsh because it would mean pictures of birds of the feathered kind and aluminum kind. Unfortunately, I was running a little late tonight so I didn't stay as long as I would have liked.

I forget what kind of goose this is but it is some sort of goose. I really like how the light shined on him.

This is another shot I really like. If the water were a little calmer, I could have one of those which way is up shots.

A pair of geese.

And a heron.

Planewatching...

One of the nice things about Crosswinds Marsh is that it is right on the approaches for Metro Airport. The planes are typically low enough that I can get a decent shot with my telephoto.

This is an Airbus A319 or 320. I'm not very good Airbus planes.

This is another Airbus.

I believe this one is a DC-9 (or whatever they are called these days).

This is another Airbus decked out in Philadelphia Eagles colors.

This was kind of neat as I don't often see these around here. This is an Airbus A340 from Air France.

This is a Boeing 737.