Live From Churchill: October 21, 2009
A daily field report on polar bears from our guide Steve Selden in our Churchill, Manitoba office! Check out our polar bear tours here.
Flurries carpeted the tundra this afternoon and I think white will be the color Churchill wears from now until Spring. Temps hung just below the freezing threshold at 25°F with little or no wind. The Hudson Bay remains calm when only two days ago the breakers were rising three to four feet behind the town complex building.
An Arctic Fox! Photo: Steve Morello
On the other hand, wildlife viewing in the Wildlife Management Area (WMA) continues to impress. Guide Brad reports good bear activity down east on the tidal flats where his group also witnessed an Arctic Fox frolicking with a particularly large male. White Rumped Sandpipers also were seen foraging there while Black Belly Plovers, American Golden Plovers and Dunlin were observed in the Gordon Point vicinity much to the satisfaction of Guide Jared’s bird lovers.
These travelers were also quite delighted when, in the early afternoon, they came upon two Snowy Owls, one glowing white male and a darker immature animal, on the inland road. Meanwhile, somewhere between the flats and the Tundra Lodge, Guide Elise and her guests spotted a weasel and lemming while two gurfalcons soared nearby. Coincidence?
Not to be forgotten soon by her travelers was a large male Polar Bear standing up against their rover window at Gordon Point. Then, later, another female sleeping underneath the rover was a perfect way to wind down the afternoon and head back to the launch area.
