What a season it’s been so far…we’ve had a constant building -up of momentum with haywire activity out in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area down east from Churchill proper. Snowy tundra acts as a stage for sparring bears, not quite in mid -season form though working hard at it each new day.
Polar bears have not been the only drawing card either. Natural Habitat guide Justin and his group experienced a truly rare vision of a wolverine only 200 yards out from launch one chilly dawn. The greyish landscape was broken only by the beautiful animal making its’ way across a frozen pond. The sight will be frozen in memories for lifetimes.
Bonnie Chartier’s travelers viewed three Purple Sandpipers on their first morning out from the lodge on a rover. They were the first ones that were recorded in the province this year and Bonnie reflected she thought she and her groups just missed them last year.
Bonnie and guide Paul Brown have had some close encounters of the gyrfalcon kind in some spruce trees abutting the wide open tundra.
Gyrfalcon atop a black spruce in Churchill. Paul Brown photo.
After leaving the lodge and crossing the lake, guide Karen Walker and group were heading out into the CWMA with driver Bill behind the wheel when he spotted a lemming in his headlights. “The lemming was running along the edge of the road, in and out of the frozen grass. We got a nice look at it. Then a bit later, Bill and the three guests at the front of the rover got a quick glimpse at an ermine as it ran across the road. The weather got very stormy with sideways snow & very strong wind. We were warm & cozy in our rover.” reported Karen.
Red fox working the tundra. Colby Brokvist photo.
Natural Habitat guide Colby brokvist and band of travelers experienced comfortable temperatures hovering around freezing…quite comfortable for wildlife viewing.
“We had several sightings each day and a bunch of bears right off the rover including sparring bears at the lodge. Turns out I didn’t take any shots of the bears but I did grab some of a very charismatic red fox we saw out at Cape Merry.” reported Colby.
Early season photo of a sleepy polar bear. Paul Brown photo.
This season has provided incredible fox sightings this year including a long sighting of silver fox for Colby’s group out near along the flats. The group watched it hunt lemmings and scare up a big flock of willow ptarmigan. A spruce grouse out near the Tundra Lodge, a strange place for such a sighting, and a late season tundra swan fly by were nice additions to this season’s varied sight list.
The late season shipping news continues to impress as ships relay in and out of Churchill’s port. One ship went out and there has been up to five waiting out in the bay….giving a strange sense of invasion to the normally placidly empty horizon.
POLAR BEAR ALERT BLOTTER
11 bears contained in the compound as of October 27th.
Polar bear season 2014 is almost underway and polar bears and other Arctic animals are awaiting the throngs of travelers heading to the Hudson Bay coast. Churchill is awaiting once again. Stay close to the action with detailed reports from the Churchill region and the Churchill wildlife Management Area via information from Natural Habitat guides in Churchill for the season. We will keep you informed of all the latest wildlife and people stories from Churchill this season highlighted with photo’s and video from the tundra and surrounding area. Like our Face Book page so you can easily link to churchillpolarbears.org. It’s going to be a wild season.
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!
I read an article on the internet about a polar bear that had died in Svalbard and the propaganda being put forth about global warming was nauseating. Not that I don’t believe global warming is in fact truly occurring …but one dead polar bear can ,in no way, verify that truth. Nor can one colder than normal winter substantiate the claim that global warming is a hoax.
The photo and story of the “bear rug” as it was described accurately, was supposed to accentuate the pro-warming angle being plead by many. One starved polar bear “bearing” the torch for the global warming crusade. Somewhat slanted journalism in my opinion.
I am an proponent of the global warming theory and I respect the many scientific -based organizations that put forth the growing evidence of sea – ice loss and warming trends in our planets climate. I feel ,however, that at times we try to hard to persuade the nay-sayers with unfounded propaganda that turns people away from the cause of protecting our planet.
For the time being let’s just enjoy the fact that many bears arriving on -land in the southern Hudson Bay are healthy polar bears ready to wait out the freeze -up a little more comfortably this fall. Apparently the sky is not falling..just yet. Check out these rather plump bear photo’s taken just a couple of days ago by Churchillian Jody Grosbrink.
A normally quick trip aboard the Arctic rover out to half -way point became a two hour journey on the coast. Birdlife, including willow ptarmigan and chicks just by launch-site, snow geese, tundra swans, american golden plover and greater scaup… all with youngsters…graced the trail and willows. The trip serves as an introduction to the Churchill Wildlife Management Area which serves as prime viewing area for polar bears in the fall.
However, this particular group was fortunate to eye a bear on the rocks at the point jutting into the Hudson Bay. While eating lunch, the group also spotted a “binocular bear”.. actually a sow and two cubs of the year (coy) from the back deck of the machine.
After lunch while the group was stowing away the gear and preparing to leave another bear approached the bear on the rocks and they sauntered around each other yawning the entire time. Guide Sue Zajac could see one of them snapping his jaws and finally one claimed the prime spot and the other moved away. What a great first day!
A rare young beluga whale “head shot” in the Churchill River. Photo Rhonda Reid.
While the first Natural Habitat group of the season experienced curious whales and exceptional viewing overall, the weather was rainy and dreary at times. This combination created lasting memories in the Arctic. The social whales only heightened the interactions and viewing as the week went on.
Rounding out the Arctic experience was ample birding. American golden plovers, Arctic terns, and Bonapart’s gulls highlighted the sightings. While hiking the Ramsey trail out by the Churchill Northern Studies Center, four adult whimbrels warned travelers with incessant squaks.
The whale viewing for the second group started off with some less active interactions as the whales kept a slight distance. However, the bear sightings were incredible. On their rover trip, a total of seven bears were seen including a sow and two cubs. The Willows proved to be needed cover for the animals looking to rest and conserve energy. Two males, one slightly younger than the other, interacted with some fighting though it never quite escalated into full-on sparring. A well needed rest was had by both afterward. Travelers expectations were exceeded by a long shot with the bear sightings.
Some other standout highlights the past week were peaking fireweed across the tundra, healthy female cones on the white spruce trees, and a welcome lack of mosquitos for this time of year.
While the group paddled the Churchill River in Sea North Tours new fleet of yellow kayaks, the beluga whales appeared to lose their shyness as they bumped and lifted the shells, much to the thrill of the occupants. It doesn’t get any better in the north-country!
