Visiting the Mill in Brewster

I guess Mar and I are Old Fogies!
We are not beach people ... in fact, we didn't even pack the swim suits!
But look at some of the advantages of visiting Cape Cod in the off-season.
First, there were hardly any tourists; it was like having the Cape to ourselves! The three best things about that was no crowds, no crowds and no crowds! There was no road traffic with the accompanying horrendous summer traffic jams, most souvenir shops had opened, and we had these stores and sights to ourselves.
Seeing Cape Cod in the spring also meant seeing blooms you'd otherwise never get to see in person. And they were magnificent! Especially the azaleas. For me, the tulips, by the gazillions, took a close second .... most homes had at least one flower bed full of them.
We missed the rhodies by a week or two ... oh well, we'll have to go back in May next time to see those. Sharon Fogerty said they are incredible. We could see them budding, so sorry to miss them.
Another thing you'll only see in the spring are the herring running from the sea to the ponds. It sure is an awesome sight of nature to see, especially the fight between the herrings trying to get to the ponds against the sea gulls out for a buffet meal at all the streams. In April and May, the herring return from the sea to climb the man-made fish ladders to lay their eggs behind the mill in Mill Pond.
This is a series of pictures I took of the Stony Brook Grist Mill, the herring run, and the Mill Pond in Brewster.

Here's the Mill taken from the walkway that leads to Mill Pond. It is still a working mill, in museum form ... during the summer months corn grinding is done for the tourists.

Another view of the leading edge of the pond leading up to the mill.

Here's a shot taken 180 degrees from the last two, showing Mill Pond. There was one lone sea gull on the wall beside the pond. He didn't seem bothered by me, in fact, I was able to walk up to about ten feet from him for the next shot.
I have to think he was sitting here, full of herring, congratulating those who completed the swim past his fellow gulls.

The gull is sitting next to the end of the man-made herring run slewway, built so the herring could jump their way through the "locks" to the pond.

This was taken about half way down the herring run. The sea gulls are lined up, waiting for dinner to swim by!

Here's one gull who obviously sees a herring before his mates.

As soon as one gull dives for a herring, he is literally attacked by several of his mates. It is every bird for himself! Until a herring is swallowed, it is fair game. The gulls try to steal the herring right out of each other's mouths!

When a gull had had his full, he would fly off to a roof across the street to snooze and digest his fish dinner. There were dozens of gulls lazing on the roof, (darn, I forgot to get that shot.)

There was a nice foot bridge across the herring run. As long as you stayed a few feet away, the gulls would sit on the railing unperturbed.
I think they were saying to Mar in this image, "So like, where's your fishing pole?"

Here's one picture of the stream ...

.... and here's another. The drop in the stream was evidently too great for the herring to make it to the pond.

Here's part of the herring run that curved away from the stream ... making the incline less steep for the herring, but also "setting the table" for the hungry gulls!

Here's a sideways picture of the herring run showing the little, man-made "locks" which allow the herring to jump their way up to Mill Pond.

Humans aren't the only species to have bullies!
This one gull was really mean! He had staked out one of the run's areas for his exclusivity, and pity any other poor gull who came by to fish!
Here's one who dropped by and was being severely chased away.
This gull should have taken up hockey ... who would go into the corners against him!

Here's one smart gull who realized the herring were momentarily airborne, when jumping from "lock" to "lock". He's waiting for dinner to jump right into his mouth!

The gulls were really upset and shrieking at me from overhead while I took this shot.
It shows four of the "locks" on the run to the pond; I was too close for comfort for the gulls.
However, I had just turned away and they were immediately back at this section looking for a meal.

Here's one final image of the herring run. In this photo, the water is flowing towards the sea, several hundred yards away.
Mar and I were so glad to have had the opportunity to vist the mill, pond and stream while the herring were running.