Churchill Polar Bears - Part 2

 Wednesday, 11 October 2023

Tundra Rovers, Guides, & Lodge   

A few pictures of the amazing tundra rovers and their equally amazing drivers.

The rovers are about 10 ft wide and 55 ft long. They have 6-wheel drive, and each tire is 5 feet tall and 3 ft wide. There is a back platform for better viewing. The school-bus-type windows drop down for unobstructed photography. (Unlike most school buses, the windows are double-pane.) Even though the rovers can hold about 30 passengers, Natural Habitat only fills the rovers half-full so that everyone has a window.

The tundra lakes look formidable, but they are mostly only a foot or two deep. That's not a challenge for the rovers. Although the rovers could travel anywhere on the tundra, they follow old military roads, so they are not adding new disturbances to the tundra.

Left: Val, our rover driver. Right: Kurt, our Nat Hab guide.

The Tundra Lodge as seen from the east.

Wildlife & Landscapes

The morning was foggy and frosty.

Morning light.

Frosty tundra and spruce.

This polar bear seems perplexed by the ravens that were invading his space.

Eventually the ravens flew away, and the bear decided to take a snooze.

This bird was a long way away, but just close enough to be unmistakably a bald eagle. During the summer, the tundra is filled with birds. Today we saw only a few: ravens, ptarmigans, a few wading birds, and the eagle.

Another lovely sunset.

The aurora was active again overnight, but since it was foggy, it was just a general glow in the sky.

Churchill Polar Bears - Part 1

We recently returned from a trip to Churchill, Manitoba with Natural Habitat Adventures to see polar bears as they congregate in the area in preparation for going out on the sea ice in Hudson Bay for the winter. Dilemma: Canada is a foreign country, but we drove to Winnipeg and back. Is that foreign travel ("Horn OK Please" blog) or domestic travel ("No Turn On Red" blog)? I've made the executive decision that Canada belongs with the U.S.: drivable, English-speaking (French, as well, of course), first-world amenities.

Having family in Naperville, IL and St. Louis Park, MN made it easy to combine our tour with family time.

Tuesday, 10 October 2023

Winnipeg to Churchill

Flying charter is really fine. No security. Our bus drove up to the steps to the plane. The plane was a turbo-prop ATR-72. The plane boards through the rear; luggage is up front between the passenger cabin and the cockpit. Churchill is accessible mostly by air, 2 1/2 hours from Winnipeg. The train from Winnipeg runs 3 days a week and takes 50 hours each way. In the summer, freighters come to the port. This summer, a cruise ship came for the first time in 10 years.

Lake Winnipeg

Tundra landscape

First glimpse of Hudson Bay near Churchill.

Tundra Sights

Once we boarded the tundra rovers (photos in the next post), we did not touch the ground until we returned to town - a total of about 52 hours. We were always 6 ft off the ground - plenty of room for bears to go beneath us, and too high for them to reach the windows.

While making our way to the Great White Bear Tundra Lodge, we got to see wildlife and tundra landscapes.

Almost immediately after starting our trip through the tundra, we saw a gray wolf - a rare sight.

Polar bear #1. The blood on his legs and snout tell that he has been feeding recently.

Polar bear #2 - a "big white rock".

The same polar bear in context with the landscape.

Tundra Lodge

The Great White Bear Tundra Lodge is essentially a small train on the tundra. At one time the lodge was towed into town for the off-season, but now it is left assembled on its spot on the tundra.

The Lodge "cars" from left to right: Supply rover, crew quarters, kitchen and dining, lounge, 2 sleepers directly connected.

The hall in the sleeper cars.

Each roomette has a single bed and storage above or below. This was my room, with a lower bunk and luggage storage above.

The rooms with upper bunks have luggage storage below. Regardless of configuration, it's a tight fit!

After Dark

Sunset on the tundra.

This unusual door-hanger lets the guides know that you want to be awakened in the event of an aurora sighting.

Orion rising in the east. The stars were vivid in this dark-sky setting. (Not bad for a hand-braced 5-second exposure. Outside deck space is limited, so tripods were not allowed.)

Usually at this time of year, the sky is overcast and the aurora was not visible. But we got lucky on our first night with a great auroral display from midnight to 1:30 AM.

We shared photos. This picture was taken by a hand-held iPhone 15 Pro.

This photo was taken by a hand-held iPhone 14 Pro Max. Our iPhone SEs are not up to this quality.

"Of the Earth" at the Morton Arboretum

Of the Earth is the most recent large-scale art installation at the Morton Arboretum near Chicago. The five sculptures by the Polish-American artist Olga Ziemska are constructed from materials gathered at the Arb along with steel and glass-fiber reinforced concrete (and in one piece, astroturf for a year-round maintenance-free carpet of grass).

Hear: With an ear to the ground

Stillness in Motion

Strata

The steel frame is filled with river rock.

Ona
The mirror eyes seemed out of place to me. Too zombie-like.

Oculus
This was our favorite piece.

I preferred the more delicate rays of the other side of the piece.

Here we thought the mirrored eye worked well.

Recent Wildlife

 Some recent postings from our game cameras and more.

We're taking care of our two "granddogs" for June and July, and they get worked up over deer that come into our "meadow" (aka septic drain field). The deer know the dogs are here, but pay no attention because the dogs are fenced in.

A very young fawn tucked away on the side of the Forest Service road.

Every once in a while we see a red-tailed hawk overhead. It's not a great picture, but the species ID is unmistakable.

Now for some trail cam pix.

Too bad this coyote didn't center him/herself properly, but he/she clearly knows the camera is there!

A deer candid.

Fourth of July Fireworks

The Clifton Forge July 4th fireworks display was on July 3, but that's OK! We have a front-seat view from our deck.

The fireworks were competing with nature's fireworks - a large thunderstorm in the background (east of Lynchburg, Va - about 100 miles to the east). After sunset this cloud was frequently illuminated with lightning, but unfortunately, distant lightning and much closer fireworks require separate exposures, so my attempts to get the two together did not work!