by Steve Selden | Oct 23, 2009 | Tour News
A daily field report on polar bears from our guide Steve Selden in our Churchill, Manitoba office! Check out our polar bear tours here.
The northern lights are amazing here! Photo: Patrick Endres
The best aurora borealis spectacle of the season happened last night as travelers emerged from our evening cultural presentations throughout Churchill. The greenish glow provided a nightcap to finish off another fine day of Arctic pleasure.
Last night also brought the first cracker shells from Manitoba’s finest Conservation Officers. As I lay in bed, I heard the streamers going off just down the alley and somewhere behind LaDune’s stone hotel which lies like ruins on the Hudson Bay (even though the construction process has been going on for more than 12 years). A polar bear careened toward Caribou Hall. The shells rang louder and more frequent as the bear seemed to be only two houses down. They faded out again down toward the bay and behind the town complex building. It’s a sequence one will never get used to and my imagination once again allows my thoughts to drift into the uncanny possibility of living in a war zone. However, the feeling quickly turns to exhilaration instead of terror. I fall back asleep dreaming of next year’s world championship hopes for the Boston Red Sox. (more…)
by Steve Selden | Oct 22, 2009 | Churchill News, Tour News
A daily field report on polar bears from our guide Steve Selden in our Churchill, Manitoba office! Check out our polar bear tours here.
Aurora faded into dawn as guides made their way to breakfast with respective groups of travelers. Then to launch and across the tundra. The sky soon became mostly cloudy all over the Churchill region. Pockets of bright blue sky opened up over Button Bay on the western side of Fort Prince of Wales across the Churchill River. No wind and temps around 24°F allow for prime wildlife viewing conditions.
Photo: Dennis Minty
Meanwhile, our early morning helicopter journeys are already seeing upwards of 15 bears, five or six moose, and scattered caribou en route to Wapusk National Park(WPN) and a landing at Nester One; a bird banding and general research outpost just down east of Cape Churchill. Between there and Broad River, farther southwest, some groups also observed a fresh seal kill being enjoyed by another bear. Most sighted polar bears this season are in good shape due to last spring/summer’s late ice break-up but this animal wasn’t taking any chances, I guess. (more…)
by Steve Selden | Oct 21, 2009 | Churchill News, Tour News
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.
by Steve Selden | Oct 20, 2009 | Churchill News, Tour News
This is the first in a series of daily blogs from guide Steve Selden in our Churchill, Manitoba office! Churchill is renowned as the “Polar Bear Capital of the World” and is the starting point for several of our most popular adventures.
A chill of just below freezing came from the north and flurries scattered across the tundra all day long. After unseasonably cold days at the outset of the season and welcomed warming over the previous few days, we now are feeling normal Arctic cooling for this time of year.
Up close and personal! Photo: Steve Morello
Bears are moving over the land and heading in numbers from Wapusk National Park (WPN) into Churchill Wildlife Management Area (CWMA) where we saw plenty of them from our polar buggies and the famed Tundra Lodge. Today’s reports include sightings of bears upwards of 15 or more from one buggy, many congregating around Gordon Point along the coast. A great day at that hot-spot!
From our helicopters, today’s report is of guests seeing increasing numbers of bears at Cape Churchill, an annual mainstay and jumping off point onto the Bay as it freezes. Moose and caribou were sighted as well from the air sprinkled in amongst the mothers and cubs down towards Broad River in WPN.
All in all a very good day of wildlife sightings!
