Eisenhower Lock, St. Lawrence Seaway

I had just left the Nature Center (see previous two posts) and was headed south toward home. The area between the Grasse River and the St. Lawrence River (and Seaway) was rife with ponds, streams and marshes (see the Google map, below):

I hadn't expected to take any more pictures, but I couldn't resist. And this was what stopped me and caused me to pull to the side of the road - two displaying male turkeys. They were intent on what they were doing and not much concerned with me:

I got back on the road but was again distracted, this time by the Eisenhower Lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway. I had to drive uphill to get a view of it:

Looking to the west, a large ship appeared to be coming through:

And looking to the east, where two seagulls were squawking at me:

There was a lot of construction going on. It was a busy place, though tourists couldn't get to the active areas:

I was just leaving the Eisenhower Lock when I stopped to photograph this pair of Canada Geese:

Remember I said that I had to drive uphill to get a view of the Eisenhower Lock? The road goes beneath it, though the tunnel seems so short that I had to look it up on a map when I got home:

What I learned when I checked Google Maps was that the Seaway narrows dramatically at the point where they built the Eisenhower Lock. Rather than build a bridge for the road, they built a tunnel:

I thought I was finished with photos when I noticed a small body of water with a blacktopped drive going down to it. There were a number of birds in the water, so I drove down for a better look. As you can see, there were two Canada Geese, two Mallards and a Loon. I was surprised by all the interesting things I saw while driving home from the nature center, but that's all the more reason to return soon:

Sunrise Over Cape Cod Bay

I was staying in Provincetown to sing in a Saturday evening concert for the benefit of the Provincetown Soup Kitchen. I woke up before dawn on Saturday morning and drove to a convenience store for coffee. Then I decided that a sunrise walk out on the breakwater on the very tip of the Cape would be nice. The last time I'd taken that walk, I'd seen lots of fish, crabs, starfish, etc. in the water. This time, the tide was out and I saw mostly sand and stranded mussels. Still, anywhere on Cape Cod at sunrise is a spectacular sight:

I was not the only person who had decided that such a sunrise walk would be pleasant. A few other daring souls were out there hopping carefully from rock to rock, enjoying the sights, sounds and smells:

And looking back toward Provincetown center, I could see the Pilgrim Monument. It's an anchoring fixture in the tip-of-the-Cape landscape:

There wasn't much sea life visible except for seagulls and other birds. I was having a mostly quiet, contemplative experience beneath the newly risen sun:

Seagulls picked up mussels and dropped them on the rocks to crack them open. Then they'd eat the animal inside the shell. I got to watch this happen many times at close range, as seagulls are notoriously unafraid of people:

I tried to get a video of seagulls dropping mussels on the rocks but never got the chance. I did, however, record a seagull picking at an apparently dead starfish. You can hear the ever present wind:


The newly risen sun was spreading its warmth over the ocean and bathing everything in silvers and golds:

It was all lovely, but I was getting hungry. So I turned back towards dry land:

I got back into my little red car and drove to the only eatery in town open at that early hour. Normally, one avoids driving in Provincetown. It's too crowded, the streets are too narrow, the parking is too scarce. But at this hour, I was sure I could find a place to park:

I had a coffee and a breakfast burrito. I sat alone in the little restaurant except for the company of a brown bird, species unknown. It hopped around the floor picking at crumbs from the night before. He or she was good enough company: