Journey to Churchill–Mama Polar Bear and Cubs!

This was the absolute highlight of the trip, I can’t believe I took this picture in the wild!

After viewing the owl we started to head out into the bay to view the Belugas but again the keen eye of our guide spotted a Mama Polar Bear with her two cubs!   One cub was on the shore and the mom and other cub were swimming.

They come out of the water and we watch as they walk along the shore.

They stop to nurse from mom!

Now this next series of pictures tells a cute story, we all laughed watching the one tired cub lay on the rock. 

‘But mom I don’t want to climb up here, I’m too tired from my swimming lesson” 

This will show you how close we were to the bears on the boat.

They walk away behind the outcrop and then I notice her peeking out at us.  “Haven’t they left yet?” 

This encounter with the cubs was a really highlight of the trip.  I wasn’t expecting to see any bears and to capture pictures of this experience was beyond anything I had hoped for.

New post the beluga whales!

Journey to Churchill–Snowy Owl

I was able to check another item off my bucket list while in Churchill.   I have seen many owls where I live but I have never gotten a photo of one and was so excited to see this beautiful Snowy Owl on our boat tour.   Tim was the one that noticed it first as the Arctic Terns were squawking and diving at it.  Our guide drove the boat closer and I was able to get my photos.  Here is what we first saw from a distance and I think I had my zoom lens on full zoom to even see it!

I kept taking pictures as we moved closer for fear of it taking off if we got too close.

The landscape here was stunning with the water, rock, greenery, purple flowers and the soft colour of the sky.

When I zoom in you can see he is looking to the right.

Now looking to the left!

Looking straight ahead!

Zoomed in!   I was so glad I was able to zoom in more on my computer and he kept in focus on this one.

Next post will be about the family of polar bears we saw next!  I’m trying to keep this in chronological order so I journal everything.

Journey to Churchill–Day 2- Polar Bears!

Day 2 on our Churchill trip started with a 3 hour Beluga Whale Dream Tour.  The sky was cloudy and it was 15’c but it was colder on the water as there is ice still out on Hudson’s Bay just out of view.   There were 34 people on this tour so they used two zodiac boats and one aluminum one. I really wanted to go on the aluminum one (I called it the Beachcomber boat) as we have both used zodiac boats in the bush before….reminds us of work!   Lucky us we got picked for the aluminum boat!   Here we go!

Part of this tour includes a walking tour of the Fort Prince of Wales but due to a ‘safety’ issue the Parks Canada department closed the fort.  We soon realized what the safety issue was, a whale carcass washed up on shore near the Fort and this attracts the bears!  I was so excited!  If any polar bears had made it to shore in this area they will be able to smell it.  The polar bears main habitat is the sea ice as it is actually a marine mammal.  They are very strong swimmers and  can swim up to 100km a day. Their main source of food is seals which they hunt out on the ice and with the ice melting sooner and returning later the polar bears seal hunt time frame is shrinking and they are now going longer in the summers with little to no food while they are on the shore. Here is a informative article on this problem.  

So while we are waiting for the beluga whales to come closer to the boat we notice something.  Our first close polar bear sighting on shore so our cameras quickly turn from a few distant belugas to the two bears.  This is how I looked most of the time!

They stay on a grassy patch behind the outcrop but peak up once in awhile so we can get a few shots!

We continue along the shoreline and go around Eskimo Point.  We then see another polar bear napping in the seaweed along the shoreline trying to keep cool and conserve his energy.  Our guide describes the bears right now as ‘hot and bothered’ as they have evolved to withstand –40 temperatures so +15’c is far too hot for them.  They like to find low, cool spots to lay in.

I took about 20 pictures of him napping and then he finally notices our boat approaching.  He is not too concerned and lays back down. 

We hear a helicopter approach and that gets his attention and he sits up.

Big yawn!

Another glance in our direction.

Up he goes for a walk.

Sniffing the air!

My favorite shot of this beautiful animal in the green landscape!

Our guide laughed and said “ He is taking a pee…they take really long pees!”  She was right, he sat like that for a good minute or so peeing!

I think the smell of the whale carcass was calling to him and off he wandered.

Now remember I’m in a boat in choppy water and trying to get these pictures which was a real challenge for me but I was determined to get a few really good shots.   I had to delete many but was so glad to get some in focus as we were a good distance from the bear.  It had also started raining while we were watching this guy to add to the challenge.  But I was dressed for the conditions and enjoying every moment of this adventure so far.  I’m still smiling from ear to ear!

Next we traveled back into the Churchill River and saw the first pair of bears again.  You can see how the colour of the outcrop as changed from the rain giving the landscape a different feel.

I think I’ll end this post here but that’s not the end to my polar bear sightings.  The best is yet to come!

And we still haven’t gotten to the belugas either!

Journey to Churchill!

Last week my husband Tim took me on a trip of a lifetime for my birthday!   I have always wanted to go to Churchill, Manitoba to see the Beluga Whales and with us living so close, yet so far from this amazing place we finally just said ‘Let’s Go!”   If you have never heard of Churchill then please continue reading this journal about this amazing trip, you won’t regret it.   Tourist travel from all over the world to experience the beauty of this land and to see the animals that inhabit this area.    So first…where is Churchill?  Well it is located in Northern Manitoba on the shore of Hudson’s Bay at the mouth of the Churchill River.   As the crow flies is it 600km from us but there are no roads to Churchill.  The only way to get there is by train or by plane. We chose plane so had to drive 750km south to Winnipeg to fly 1000km north to Churchill.

Churchill has three main tourist season depending on what you want to experience.  If you want to see the Polar Bears visit in Oct to Nov, if you want to see Belugas late June to late August is the best viewing and if you want to see the Northern Lights Nov to March are your best chances to see them. Here is a great link to answer other questions about Churchill.

We stayed at the Lazy Bear Lodge and did the Beluga Whale Dream Tour. 

For our first day we went on a three hour  Heritage Tour of Churchill.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and I enjoyed her passion for the local plant life, we learnt a lot!   Our first stop was Cape Merry which is right at the mouth of the Churchill River at Hudson’s Bay.  You can see Fort Prince of Whales across the river and we stood at the Cape Merry Cannon Battery to enjoy the view.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a set of Parks Canada red Adirondack chairs at this location.  You can learn about those here.

Since Tim and I are both geologists we loved the rocky landscape which has been shaped by the glaciers. 

Our guide had a keen eye and noticed something across the river by the Fort.  We got out our binoculars and sure enough it was a polar bear.  The fact you can see it from that far away tells you just how large these animals. We were not expecting to see the polar bears so I was just excited to see that!  Well I had no idea what was in store for us the next day and I will just say I got two trips in one!  If you follow me on IG then you will know already what I saw but I’ll save that for my next post!

Also from this location you could see hundreds of belugas swimming and feeding at the mouth of the river.  All those little white dots are the whales.  Again I was thrilled to see that but the next day we were getting up close and personal!

The tundra was in full bloom while we are there.    The Northern Hedysarum had just passed it peak but still beautiful, I can’t remember the white flowers name but it was just finishing as well. 

Our next stop was to see Miss Piggy, a name the locals have given this crashed cargo plane.  Here is a link to the story.

Our guide, who carries a shot gun and air horn, told us to wait by the van until she had made sure there were no polar bears hiding near by.  She walked up onto the wing and started jumping up and down which made quite the noise!  Once it was all clear our group of 9 people walked up onto the wing and entered the plane through the window.  We checked out the inside and then leaped out the door on the other side and jumped from the outcrop to the wing.

One of the engines as sitting in the rocks beside the plane and our guide was curious how this particular engine worked.   Tim knew it was a rotary engine and gave her a lesson on how it worked.

Then our last stop was the Polar Bear Jail.  No inhabitants here yet but I’m sure it will be filling up soon after what we experienced the next day.   But I’ll save that for my next post.  I took about 600 photos so have some more editing to do and will need to break this adventure up into a few posts. 

After our afternoon tour we headed back to the lodge for a supper of Arctic Char, so yummy!  Here is a picture of the lodge restaurant, very cozy and warm.   The temperature the first day was 13’c and sunny so a very pleasant day.

I’ll be posting more soon!