“What a trip! The action just kept coming and we seemed to always be in the right place at the right time”, reported Natural Habitat guide Colby Brokvist. Highlights included many cub sightings, including one curious guy right up on our rover. We had sparring males so close that some of the guests on the deck of the rover were hit with snow as the bears tussled!
Polar bears in sparring mode. Colby Brokvist photo.
Other highlights included Manitoba Conservation chasing a large male polar bear out of town, and numerous fox sightings. Topping it off, the aurora borealis came out on Halloween night and the group of travelers and Colby journeyed down to the inukshuk behind the town complex to observe the amazing display around 1 am in the morning.
Aurora shining in the Arctic sky above the boreal forest. Brad Josephs photo.
Shipping News: The last grain ship is out of port and the tug boat brought in the channel buoys this past week.
Manitoba Conservation Blotter: There are currently 13 polar bears in the polar bear compound as of yesterday, including a sow with a cub caught in a bear trap near the cemetery.
Polar bear print in the snow. Karen Walker photo.
Guide Karen Walker and group had a male polar bear come very near their polar rover, on the spit past the lodge. The temperature was hovering around freezing, so the snow was soft and left a fantastic foot print for photographs. “At one point we had a very close bear on the right side of our rover and sparring to the left side of the rover,” added Karen.
A fox den on Christmas Lake esker in Churchill Wildlife Management Area. Karen Walker photo.
Out along Christmas Lake esker, the group discovered the entrance of a fox den. “We never saw the fox, but we saw lots of tracks,” stated Karen. That evening the wind really picked up and it has become quite evident that winter has set in. Over the last few days, two blizzard-like storms have descended on Churchill.
