The Kaye E. Barker Rides the Winds Out

 As I said in the other post, I went over to Muskegon to catch the Kaye E. Barker coming in.  That didn't quite happen but I still got some pictures of her.

Yesterday, she hit a sandbar as she was coming in.  They had to get her unstuck and to do so, they lightened her load a bit.

She got off the sandbar and was sitting off the pier last night.  She tried to enter a couple of times this morning but to no avail.

I saw that she was still off the pier, so I decided to head over to catch her.  I figured that I would catch her going in or leaving.

It turns out that neither happened.  So I went to different spots on the beach to get different angles of her.

I couldn't get too many different angles but this kind of worked.

As I was going down the beach, it started to rain.

That of course made my pictures a little more misty but I don't mind that so much.  It adds atmosphere.

I thought this was my last one.

But then I found one more angle that I liked.  As I type this post, she is still waiting to get in.  It was pretty windy over there.  Apparently, there were some diversions from O'Hare.  Hopefully she will be able to get into tomorrow.

The Muskegon Lighthouse from a Different Angle

 I went over to Muskegon today.  I was hoping to catch the Barker as she came in.  That didn't quite happen but more on the next post.

This was from the spot where I was taking pictures of the Barker.  I liked the way the lighthouse was peaking through the trees.  I didn't realize there were branches in the way but that kind of added to the picture.  Anyway, enjoy.

Whereupon I Catch a Bald Eagle

 So next I headed down to Ohio.  I wanted to go to the Ottawa Wildlife Preserve because I heard the drive would be opne.

First up was a female red winged blackbird.

Then I saw an egret.

I liked the way this one was looking at me.

He kept posing so I kept taking pictures.

I think this is a false map turtle.  At first I thought it was a slider but I didn't see the red behind the ear.

I thought it would have been cool to see a slider in the wild but I don't think they are native this far north.

In fact, I think the only reason there would be one is because they were released as a pet.

Anyway, this was cool to see because I don't see them that often.

And then I saw a painted turtle trying to cross the road.

I made sure not to hit him but I tried to direct him to the side.

Relative safety.

Better safety as he slide down to the water.

I think this is a tundra swan.

Another angle of him.

Another egret.

I was kind of surprised to see this one.

I didn't think I would see a loon this far south.

A group of eagles.

Another egret.

And because I like these birds.

A red winged blackbird.

As he is doing his song.  I like their song.

Another shot of him.

I was happy to see an eagle fairly close up.

I think this made my weekend, especially since I saw the owl the day before.

I was getting different angles.

As he looks out.

As he looks at me.

A profile.

Another angle.

Another profile.  It was pretty windy, so his feathers were getting pushed around.

Another angle.

I think I like this angle the best.

This looks more like what you see on seals and stuff.

He was getting ready to leave.

One more.

He ended up flying to another tree.

As he was looking in my direction.

Another shot.

I think this was a yellow leg.

An immature eagle.

A heron.

Another heron.

Some sort of snake but I'm not sure what kind.

And we end with a Canada goose.  All in all, it was a pretty good day.