And the Gott

 I didn't think I would be on the island long enough to catch the next ship but as I was heading out, I saw her at the tip of the island.  I only took my my big lens with me, so I didn't get great pictures from there.

The ship was coming down pretty fast, so I took pictures at a spot where I could.  So there are some branches in the picture.

This one is a little better.

Since I had my big lens with me, this is what I was stuck with.

As I left the island, I decided I wanted some better pictures.  I was hoping to stop at Milliken but the ship was getting too far ahead.

I was able to stop at the Port Terminal and get some shots there.  There is a little spot where you can park there as long as you don't park too long.

I kind of liked the pictures from here.

I really liked the reflections on the water.  I think this one is my favorite of the bunch.

So I took a few pictures.  

And one more shot before heading home.

Catching an Eagle

 It's been a while since I've seen the eagle at Belle Isle.

They were doing work on the road that passes by one of his normal spots.  As I was leaving Belle Isle, I decided to head that way.

He was hanging out in a tree where I don't normally see him.

It was pretty cool because it was right off the road.

I wish it were a little brighter but oh well.

It was still pretty cool seeing the eagle.

I stuck around the tree, in the hopes that he would take off.

But that wasn't too be.

Anyway, there were a few people standing around.

And the eagle was looking around.

And one more shot before moving on.

Catching the James R. Barker

 I was pretty sure that I was going to catch the first ship.  It was getting dark pretty quickly so I wasn't sure about the second ship.  That's one of the things I don't like about winter.  Anyway...

The James R. Barker was heading downbound.  I'm not sure what she was carrying because I didn't catch her origin.

She was heading down to Ashtabula and that means she was likely carrying coal but I think she could have been carrying iron ore as well.

Anyway, it was a dark and miserable day but it wasn't too cold as long as the wind wasn't blowing.

Unfortunately, I couldn't take my drone up because it was kind of a snow rain mix and I'm not sure my drone would like that.

So that meant all my pictures would be with my normal camera.

It was kind of cool though because it was cold enough to see the steam cloud.

And that makes her look like a steamship, even if she is not.

And she is about to pass by.

I just love the look of a 1000 footer.  It's amazing that ships this big can sail on the Great Lakes.

She moves past the buildings in Windsor.

A closeup of her pilot house.

And one more shot of her.  One thing I find amazing is that the 1000 footers are usually registered to a port that they will never see.  In this case, the James R. Barker is registered to Wilmington, Delaware.  I know that it's for tax purposes but still, it seems odd.

A Pair of Ducks

 While I was waiting for my ship to come down, I saw this guy.

It was a mallard and he was being followed by a female mallard but not too closely.

The lighting wasn't as good on Sunday as it was Saturday.

But that made for more subdued phots.

A shot of the female.

And one more of him.

Catching a Tug/Barge of a Different Sort

 And what a different a day can make in the weather.  While Saturday was nice and sunny, Sunday was nice and snowy.  Fortunately it was warm enough that the snow didn't really stick so I decided I wanted to get some weather shots.  I saw that there was at least one ship coming down that I could catch.

While I was waiting for that ship, I actually heard this boat before I saw it.  It was pretty loud.

The boat in question was the Annie M. Dean and I think she's appeared on this blog before.

In fact, I think she was doing the same thing that she is doing in this pictures.

I think she is used in dredging work and other work.  In this case, I think they were using her to put rocks along the river.

Another shot of the full thing.

I think she was heading to the stone dock on the other side of Windsor, but I'm not sure.

I will have to say that she is a pretty nice looking tugboat.

And she starts to pass by.

One more shot as I see my next ship.

Catching the Federal Yoshino

 I thought I had a chance to catch a thousand footer but I wanted to decrease the time until seeing that ship because I knew that my light was rapidly leaving me.  So I headed down to Marine City to catch it.  It turns out that the thousand footer was further away than I thought it was, however this guy came around the bend.

I'm not sure where she was heading from.  I want to say it was something like Milwaukee but again I'm not sure.  I should have paid attention when I looked her up.

I can see where she is headed though.  She is going to place called Greenore, Ireland.  I presume she has a cargo of grain in her hold.

She one of many Federal Navigation ships and they all have pretty much the same dimensions and carrying capacity.

This ship was launched in 2001 and she was built in the Shin Kurushima Shipyards in Japan.

She is 624 feet long and 77 feet wide.  She can carry 32,787 tons of cargo because she's a little smaller than her fleetmates.

I'll have to say she is a lovely ship.

And the light was perfect.