Skywatch Friday

With all the snow and gloomy days we've had lately, it's difficult to find any interesting sky shots. I took this back in 2005 on Presque Isle, Lake Erie, Pennsylvania on a windy day when a few folks were flying kites. It seems so good to see some blue sky.
Thanks to the gang that keeps this meme going. Click on over to http://skyley.blogspot.com/ to see lots more sky shots.

Just Stuff

We took a ride to the Peninsula on Lake Erie to see the tornado damage that tore through there Sunday night. It was only a F1 tornado, the lowest on the scale, but there was plenty of destruction This was a really neat board walk that went out to a wetlands and was a great place to see wildlife. It was funded by private money, and now they aren't sure it will be rebuilt.

The trunk of this tree is at least 3 ft. in diameter. Uprooted the entire tree.

Back at home 2 of my barn cats decide whether to go outside or not.

An Amish young man drives a team of horses through town on his way to a farm.

Some of the Thistles are blooming. I love the color.

Back at the Peninsula, Map turtles soaking up some sun.

Wild Swamp Rose.

I stopped to take some pictures of this Canada goose family, and one of the goslings began walking straight towards me. He wasn't the least bit afraid, and I suspect folks had been feeding him, BUT Dad goose was right behind him, and I thought it best to get my pictures and hit the road.

It was pretty cool today, and last night got down to 37 deg. Tonight more of the same. It makes me nervous! Our garden is doing so well, we don't need any frosts now!

Watery Wednesday/ Wednesday Post

I'm just going to do a double post today since I'm getting behind on pictures. I'll do my regular daily post and Watery Wednesday.
Last week we took a cruise on a pontoon boat through the lagoons at Presque Isle State Park , Erie Pennsylvania on Lake Erie. It was a gorgeous day and it was a really relaxing ride. This is the first lagoon we rode through. No wildlife anywhere.

A shot of the sun shining through the water behind the boat.

Lots and lots of Yellow water Lilies

Pickerelweed

Here is the reason why we didn't see much wildlife. Kayaks everywhere.

Here is a Beaver lodge. They are nocturnal, and were probably sleeping!

A huge Soft shelled turtle swimming with just his head above water.

A beautiful male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly.

Thanks to 2sweetnsaxy for hosting this meme. Click on over to http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com to see more water shots.

Sunday night a tornado struck the Peninsula on Presque Isle around 7:30 PM. We're going to take a ride there tomorrow, and see the damage. I'll get some pictures. It was the first tornado ever on the Peninsula.

Presque Isle on Lake Erie

Before we take the trip to Presque Isle, I wanted to show you what I noticed a couple days after we had all that freezing drizzle. Most of the smaller birds had ice on their tails like this female House Finch. Tuesday afternoon I saw this big guy sitting in our tall Aspen tree out in our side yard. It can be difficult to photograph dark birds against a white sky. I'm not sure but I think he was spying on my birds.

OK, now onto Presque Isle. We went there in hopes of seeing the ice breaker coming into the bay, but just as last year it got stuck in the ice on the Detroit river... Hummm an ice breaker getting stuck in the ice.

Anyway this sign is for boat tours--- Not Today!

This old tree, I think it is a white Birch and it doesn't look so good.

Maybe some kind of blight?

A huge area of Horses Tails. They look really cool waving in the wind.

The house boats out on the ice are all deserted and closed up for the winter. Some are pretty fancy.

This is the only picture I could get of the ice dunes. There is too much snow along the side of the road, to get out of the van and it's piled too high. Lake Erie is about 50% frozen so far.

On the way home this is the cemetery where I got all the pictures last summer of the beautiful Hydrangeas. Now they are dried and all have snow suits.

Driving toward the sun the you can see the trees still have plenty of ice on the branches.

We did have a beautiful day. After a cloudy morning the sky turned blue, and the sun came out in the afternoon. A rare sunny day indeed!

A Visit To Presque Isle, Erie, Pennsylvania

Last week we took a ride around Presque Isle. It was a gorgeous day, and we took advantage of the sights.
This picture shows Presque Isle, and how it is in relation to Erie , Pa which lays at the bottom of the picture. Also seen in this shot are just some of the many, many ships that have sank in this area. Beginning the drive you can see plenty of the local trees still sport their summer foliage.

A little farther out you can see some color starting. The majority of the trees are Aspen, and will turn a golden yellow.

With the wind blowing the "Horses Tails" are nearly bent in half.

More beautiful golden trees.

Nearing the beach you can see the breakers that were put there by the Army Corps of Engineers some years ago to protect the sand from erosion.

The wind was really whipping that day, and some of the waves were over 5 ft. high.

Evidence of Sea Gulls walking the beach.

The main reason for this trip was to take pictures of the Presque Light House.
The first lighthouse at Erie, and indeed the first American lighthouse on the Great Lakes, was constructed on a mainland bluff in 1818, not far from the site of Fort Presque Isle. For decades, the commercial importance of Erie was directly tied to shipping on the Great Lakes, which increased dramatically in 1824 following the completion of the Erie Canal connecting Buffalo to the Hudson River. The success of New York’s canal prompted Pennsylvania to link Philadelphia to Pittsburgh with a network of canals that opened in 1834. A decade later, the Erie Extension Canal was completed, and Erie was once again a vital link to cities along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

A closer look. This light house is only visible (when the leaves are on the trees) from the beach side. The back side is not too good for picture taking being hidden by trees, , and the sun was shining right in my lens. We should have come back in the evening when the sun was behind us. It is occupied by one of the Park rangers.

More Aspen trees. The color brightens up any day.

The day began here ( Saturday) with plenty of clouds. Rain was predicted, but we decided to go beach glass hunting anyway, and the closer we got to the lake the better the day got. So far we have collected 2/3 of a pint jar. Later in the afternoon it did rain, and tonight it is 40º and very damp. The wood stove is keeping us comfy.

No ball game today. It's pouring in New York! The Yankees with all their millions have a dome less stadium....
but that's another story.

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend.

Presque Isle, and Watery Wednesday

It began as a beautiful day Tuesday, but by 9AM it had clouded up, and was that way the rest of the day. Some light snow about noon, and now at 8:30 PM the temp. is 27º and it's raining. Freezing rain ! Coating everything. We'll let the wood stove go out tonight, in case there could be power lines down from the ice. More fun!
Well, this is the price of gas today. Up $.10 since yesterday. Here we go again! We had to take one of Gary's locomotives in for service this morning. so while we waited while they worked on it we took a ride around Presque Isle on Lake Erie. This picnic table looked so lonely just waiting for summer.

Hey Mary, look what I found... This Fox squirrel was enormous! Almost the size of Azrael, and he was eating seeds from pine cones. They must be full of good nutrients.

He didn't seem frightened, and sat there while I took some pictures, then he grabbed a pine cone and scurried across the road.

Back by the Coast Guard Station is a cove where the water is already frozen. There are lots of house boats there all locked in place waiting for the spring thaw and the return of their residents.

Some are quite nice.

This is a two story. I don't think I'd want to be out there in a wind storm..

A couple of guys ice fishing. The newspaper sent someone out to do a story and I heard them shout to these guys asking how thick was the ice, but I couldn't hear the answer. They haven't fallen through, so it must be OK.

A pile of sand used to replenish the beaches when the high winds blow the sand away. (I like white sand like on Florida's Gulf Coast.) LOL

This light house is out at the end of a long pier, and is not a working one, but good for picture taking. It was way too cold to walk out there.

This is a shot of the Bay ice. Not smooth enough for skating.

Looking across the Bay at the Erie shoreline.

This marina has all it's boats cocooned in blue plastic.

I took a bunch of bird pictures after I got home. There was a large flock of Pine Siskins that hung around quite a while. I'll post them tomorrow.

Thanks to 2sweetnsaxy for hosting Watery Wednesday. Click on http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/ to see lots more water photos frozen or not.