Cloudy skies and warmer though cooling temperatures signaled the possibility of snow moving into the region carried on Northern winds and high air pressure. Though this season has been unusually scarce of snow, normalcy can return in an instant.
Photo: Colby Brokvist
Guide Amy and her travelers enjoyed a day on the tundra near the lodge viewing over 20 different polar bears. A good number were lounging though there also was the normal younger and older males sparring throughout the day. After fulfilling their satisfaction quota , they headed out near first tower in the East and came across a sow with her two coy’s walking over land stopping periodically to keep a watchful eye on a lone male paralleling their paths making mom a little uncomfortable. Finally the family stopped and a ten minute stare-down by mom seemed to convey her frustration with him. He moved away crossing over the trail and away from the area. It’s interesting to wonder what a male is looking for in order to pursue more intently..maybe a mom who cannot continue to shelter the cubs due to her own lack of energy perhaps.
Further down the trail, near first tower, they found a sow with two coy’s…noticing the vast size difference between cubs of year and the yearling sighted earlier (which was almost the size of mom). These bears had an increased anxiety level as a male polar bear wandered into the area.
Highlights for travelers with Guide Melissa included a snow white gyrfalcon sitting high atop first tower for considerable time! What an eye-full! Throughout the day sightings of four sets of moms with cubs including timing it just right to see one pair in nursing mode. Capping off their tundra tour they spied an arctic fox hunting out on Gordon Point..in and out of the rocks and along the plant life dusted white with snow.. a fine day!
hello! we’re inbound for churchill and will be spending time with you soon, arriving monday. here’s something to look for – from spaceweather.com: UPDATE: Coronagraph images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and NASA’s twin STEREO spacecraft show a faint coronal mass ejection emerging from the blast site and heading off in a direction just south of the sun-Earth line. The cloud could deliver a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field sometime on Nov. 14th or 15th. High latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras on those dates.
Thanks for the heads-up…I’ll mention it..have a great trip.
Steve