Catching Up With the Ojibway

The ship in question was the Ojibway.

 She was on her way to Thunder Bay.  I'm not sure if she is going up there to layup or to pick up another load.

 If she's going to pick up another load, it's likely that it would be a load of grain.

 At any rate, I am usually happy to see this ship because she was built in my hometown.

 When she was built, she was known as the Charles Hutchinson.

 For a while, she was owned by the Ford Motor Company as the Charles Breech.

 In 1988, she became the Kinsman Independent.

 In 2005, she became the Voyageur Independent.

 And in 2007, she was acquired by her current company and was given her current name.

 It's pretty neat to see her even thought it doesn't seem like alot.

 One more shot as she heads up to Lake Huron.  Currently, she is somewhere on Lake Superior.

A Pair of Mergansers

While I was waiting for the ship, I saw these mergansers.

 This is a female red breasted merganser.

 The male.

 Another shot of the male.

 He was really showing off for me.

One more shot of the female.  she was a little harder to get pictures of.

A Swan and Some Canada Geese

As I was taking pictures of the lighthouse, I saw some swans in the water in front of the lighthouse.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get any pictures away from the geese that I liked.  But I still kind of liked this shot.

The Harbor Beach Pier Light

We ended up taking M-25 back from Fish Point.  There was a ship I thought I could catch in Port Huron.

I liked the way the light was hitting the Harbor Beach lighthouse, so I stopped.

Catching A Pair of Snowy Owls at Fish Point

I heard that there were some snowy owls at Fish Point.  I've never seen a snowy owl in person, so it was kind of an experience.  It's not too far of a drive from here, so I decided to head up there.

 It wasn't too hard to spot my first owl.  There was a car in a parking lot nearby and if I've learned anything in my years of watching trains and boats, where there are other people, it's a good bet there is something to be photographed.

 There was an owl there but she(?) was a little on the far side, so I had to blow up this picture quite a bit to get her picture.

 I will have to admit, they are very nice looking birds.  The white stood out against the field.  I would imagine that wouldn't be the case if there was more snow on the ground.

 I just love those yellow eyes.

 She was keeping an eye on us.

 And then she took to flight.  I think she might have been hunting.

 Again, a very graceful looking bird.

Then I went to another spot and saw another owl.  Again, I think this was a female.  Apparently the males are pure white.

Catching the Thursday Wolverine

I didn't really feel like doing much on Thursday but when I get that mood, I try to at least catch the train.

 The Wolverine was passing at about 11:30 in the morning.  It was actually pretty cold on Thursday.

 but not cold enough to snow.

 I like it when there is some snow on the tracks because I think it looks pretty cool when the train kicks it up.

One more shot.

The Algoma Sault Makes an Appearance

I caught this ship in Marine City.

 I thought my shipwatching day was done after the Herbert C. Jackson passed St. Clair.  I was going to head home after that but then I saw that there was one more ship making her way upbound.

 The Algoma Sault has appeared on this blog before.  I caught her on her first run on the lakes in April.  I don't think I've caught her since then.

 I think she is one of the last ships to be built in China.  The shipyard they were building these at went bankrupt or something.  The rest of the Algoma builds are supposed to come from Croatia but I'm not sure as I've heard there may be a problem with that yard as well.

 I kind of like the looks of the Chinese built ships.  Some don't.

 But we'll see how long they last compared to the ships built here.

 Again, the water was pretty smoothe.

 Making for a nice reflection.

One more shot before heading off.

The Marysville Steam Engine All Decorated for the Holidays

I pass by this engine several times in a shipping season.  She is a gate guardian at the park in Marysville.

 Recently I noticed that someone took the time to decorate her for the holidays.  I didn't really have time to stop and take pictures but this time I did.

 Whatever group did this did a pretty good job.  And from the pictures I've seen, she looks pretty good at night.

 She also looks pretty good since someone took time to repaint her.

 I'm curious how long she will continue to look nice for since many people like to vandalize things like this.

One more shot before moving on.

And the Tecumseh Wasn't Too Far Behind

And the Tecumseh wasn't too far behind the Algosea.

 I'm actually not where where she was heading from or where she was going. 

 She may have been on her way to Thunder Bay.  As a straight decker, it's likely she would be carrying some sort of grain product.

 If that's the case, that is nearly a two day journey from this point.  It might have taken longer because Saturday was a pretty nasty day on Lake Superior.

 It has been a while since I've seen the Tecumseh.

 I kind of like her because she retains some of the classic lines of an ocean going ship.

 If I remember correctly, she was built in Seattle.

 I think she may have been used by the Navy at one point.

 Like I said, she retains some of those lines.

 And here she is about to pass the Herbert C. Jackson.  It makes a good contrast between a salt water vessel and a classic laker.

 And they get a little closer.

And she continues on her way.