Polar bear looking for a free lunch. Brad Josephs photo.
Big polar bear along the Hudson Bay coast. Sean Beckett photo.
Inquisitive polar bear says hello to a group of travelers. Brad Josephs photo.
Polar bear up close and personal. Photo Brad Josephs.
Churchill’s prime polar bear season is “barely” a month away and polar bears are already congregating in the region around this hearty frontier town on the rocky shores of the Hudson Bay. Here are some recent photo’s from Churchillian Jodi Grosbrink…soon the landscape will take on a quite different look. Winter is lurking to the north. Keep up with all the action in and around Churchill this October/November with our daily postings from the area. Natural Habitat Adventures guides will be supplying fresh video of amazing polar bear behavior as well as other incredible scenes from the north. Should be another exciting season!
Famed wildlife photographer and artist Robert Taylor passed on at age 73 at Winnipeg’s St Boniface Hospital following a bout with cancer.
Taylor was best known for his images of Manitoba polar bears, great gray owls and prairie bison. Churchill’s polar bear shots built a foundation for early polar bear awareness and ecotourism encounters in the region. The amazing unique photographs of polar bears and other Arctic animals captured the imagination of people in the South and soon the annual “polar bear season” in October and November was born. Since those early days, Churchill now draws thousands of people in search of the serenity of spending precious moments with one of the world’s most alluring animals…the polar bear.
Taylor was well know for his frequent donations of his time and images throughout his life and photographs he took were published in books such as The Manitoba Landscape-A Visual Symphony, The Edge of the Arctic: Churchill and the Hudson Bay Lowlands, The Great Gray Owl: On Silent Wings, and Manitoba: Seasons of Beauty. Taylor received the Order of the Buffalo Hunt from Premier Greg Selinger nine days before he died. The award is bestowed on individuals who demonstrate outstanding skills in leadership, service and community commitment. A fine achievement for a dedicated man.
Taylor had previously been honoured with a fellowship in the Professional Photographers Association of Manitoba, a Master of Photographic Arts from the Professional Photographers of Canada and was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
The Edge of the Arctic by Taylor was a invaluable teaching staple for any guide cutting his or her teeth in the profession of bringing the feel and secrets of the Arctic to travelers. An accomplished carver, Taylor also was instrumental in establishing the Prairie Canada Carvers Association nearly 27 years ago.
This coming polar bear season we will be featuring fresh footage from the Churchill Wildlife management Area through Natural Habitat Adventures. Come to Churchill and see some of these same bears in the Mangelson video now two years old. Watch for video from the tundra lodge and other places out on the land rimming the Hudson Bay coastline….should be an amazing season with healthy polar bears already showing up in the region!
Another successful season in Churchill is in the history books with travelers safely back home from their amazing adventures and polar bears out on the solid Hudson Bay pack ice hunting seals. Another early freeze-up ended with enough bears to thrill even the last group of avid photographers on a Natural Habitat photography trip. A second wave of bears and a good south wind to keep the ice off shore enabled the season to continue right to the end. Here are some amazing photos from the season….more will be posted through the new year. Also keep an eye out for our new format to the website coming soon. Enjoy!
Peter thrills the group with his drum dance. Colby Brokvist photo.
Polar bear romping in the snow near Churchill. Eric Rock photo
Polar bear up close in November. Colby Brokvist photo.
A red fox climbs on the precambrian sheild near Churchill. Rick Pepin photo.
Aurora from the tundra lodge. Brad Josephs photo.
With the snow and ice filling the landscape and the amazing aurora filling the sky over Churchill, it’s time for some photo’s from the past week or so to recap all that’s been going on in the north recently. Incredible northern lights the past few nights have had even the local posting photo’s on the internet. Churchillians see these pretty regularly so you know they were exceptional when a local buzz occurs. This year we have seen incredible and more regular displays of sparring. Some of my favorite shots come from these mock fights. Keep watching for more as the next couple of weeks culminate with intense polar bear action on the tundra. To see northern lights in the heart of winter, check out these aurora adventures.
A polar bear rolls around on the snow. Rick Pepin photo.
A polar bear buries his head in the snow…six more months of winter. Sandra Elvin photo.
Two large polar bears waltz across the tundra in a sparring session. Eric Rock photo.
Polar bears move majestically across the tundra. Brad Josephs photo.
Local Churchillian Katie DeMeulles with aurora in the distance.
“One more photo and I will rip the heating unit off your rover..am I clear?” Brad Josephs photo.
