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From a Natural Habitat trip to Churchill to see the polar bears. Charter flight from Winnipeg and stay in the "Tundra Lodge" - a hotel on wheels. (There is a small caption under each picture ...)

Sub albums/groups for "Churchill2016"

Churchill itself

Photos for "Churchill2016"

L-R: Rinie van Meurs (guide), Jason (rover driver and spotter) and Leah Orkin (guide)

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A visitor after dark on our first night

We saw the Aurora Borealis (northern lights) a few times during the nights when there was some clearing of the cloud cover. To the naked eye they seems like faint green mist but long exposures reveal the curtains and colours.

A big green wave, The Plough ( Big Dipper) and a bear asleep close to the lodge (bottom left)

Morning visitor

Their feet are ENORMOUS :)

The Tundra Lodge. It is towed out in sections at the beginning of the season and towed away at the end. There is about a 6 week window when the bears are around here, waiting for the ice to form and allow them out to their feeding grounds where the seals live. The two left parts are the sleeping quarters and the other two are the lounge and dining/kitchen cars.

Typical early morning light on the tundra.

Mother and older cub (I later found out from someone on the plane who was at another camp, that this condition is referred to as Hammertime M and C - by the buggy drivers helping each other locate the bears!)

He finally found a spot where there might be something to eat and pounced on the ice, sending shards into the air. Nothing to eat, though .

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A big yawn - their tongues and skin are black. This male was seen eating a young cub but no-one knows how the cub died. This form of cannibalism is not uncommon.

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Distant critters 1 : Willow ptarmigans in flight

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They spend a lot of time sleeping, conserving energy, waiting for the ice to let them go eat. The kelp beds seem to be a favourite spot.

A bit of context - the area where the buggies can go is one where the bigger males avoid, so we saw adult females � cubs and younger males.

One of the more mature males we saw

An older make with a large wound (apparently healing well) on his back hung around the lodge quite a lot. Here he's cleaning his paws.

Awww. Einstein condition : M and 2C's mother and two cubs. Rinie was in the middle of a slideshow/talk and suddenly called out "mother and cubs!" - we thought it was part of the talk but we all rushed to see them checking out the lodge.

The lodge luckily has some floodlights so pictures are possible...

More northern lights but a mostly cloudy sky

Patch just sleeping next to the lodge.

A sleeping female suddenly stood up to full height after detecting the scent of an approaching male

But he was not interested and just rolled on by ...

These two similar aged young males may be the ones some people saw "sparring" before I got this shot.

Willow ptarmigans Close to spherical is the best way to minimize heat loss ...

And furry (feathered) feet helps too :)

Nursing time - distant mother and cub.

Not sure if it was the conditions or my camera/lens combo but these were not a sharp as I would have liked. Still, it's recognizable as a snowy owl .

Just in front of the buggy, two males nose each other peacefully.

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Closest encounter - the black skin is quite obvious from the front of the face.

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An arctic fox came over to check out the potential lemmings in the brush

And went and found something to eat

Pretty good disguise :)

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Another distant critter - this time a "silver fox" a different colour version of the familiar red fox (same species)

Another distant critter - this time a "silver fox" a different colour version of the familiar red fox (same species)

Last opportunity proved the best with clear skies and some nice lights

The main street in Churchill

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Michele playing with a Canadian eskimo puppy the owner was hoping would be "socialized" by encountering toursits shopping

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Inukshuk - a stone sculpture representing a human - for a variety of purposes, memorial, honour, respect etc, by the bay

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Michele could even touch the top of it:)

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Totem outside the Caribou Hall

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In the museum in Churchill

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As we transferred from the charter (Calm Air) in Winnipeg for the last evening, we were treated to this sunset - everything was packed away except the iPhone.

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