“I don’t think there is a better place in the world to observe and photograph polar bears.” — Joel D. Davidson

Tuesday, 29 November, 2011 02:31 Written by admin

Polar bears dancing near Churchill Wild's Seal River Heritage Lodge on the coast of Hudson Bay.

Polar bear dancing lessons...

I don’t think there is a better place in the world to observe and photograph polar bears. — Joel D. Davidson, Photographer

Joel Davidson was at Seal River Heritage Lodge in early November for Churchill Wild’s Polar Bear Photo Safari, which takes place when the polar bears congregate in large numbers on the coast of Hudson Bay in anticipation of freeze-up.

Rugged and remote, but with all the comforts of home, Seal River Heritage Lodge is ideally located in the heart of polar bear country on this coast. For the serious wildlife photographer willing to spend long hours in the field getting up close and personal with the arctic wildlife, the ground level photo opportunities at the Lodge are exceptional.

“I chose Churchill Wild and Seal River Heritage Lodge to observe and photograph polar bears at ground level,” said Davidson. “I did not want to photograph the bears 15′ high from a Tundra Buggy. Our guides were very professional. Their primary concern was our safety, but they still allowed us to get close enough to the bears for good photo opportunities. My experience far exceeded my expectations!”

Arctic fox yawning on tundra near Churchill Wild's Seal River Heritage Lodge.

Don't be scared, I'm only yawning.

Photos taken on the Polar Bear Photo Safari feature stunning backdrops of sea ice and the rocky landscapes that surround the Lodge. The snowy Hudson Bay shoreline is ideal for photographing polar bears in their naturally icy environment at this time of year and is praised by the many photographers that visit the Lodge.

“I took over 4,000 photos,” continued Davidson. “I have been fortunate to photograph wildlife all over the world and have never taken so many fine images in just four days! The hardest problem was selecting the best images from hundreds of excellent photos.”

Davidson immensely enjoyed watching (and videotaping) the interaction and the wrestling of the polar bears. See video below.

Although he missed the Northern Lights, which often romance and dance on clear nights for photographers and guests at the Lodge, Davidson felt that observing so many arctic fox on the trip was a bonus. And we have to agree – he did get some fabulous arctic fox photos! See gallery below.

“The accommodations were excellent, the food was superb, and the staff was outstanding,” said Davidson. “Staying at Seal River Heritage Lodge is a photographer’s dream.”

Click here to view as slideshow

To view more of Joel Davidson’s polar bear photos please visit his Web site at: http://joeldavidsonimages.com/

World’s largest land carnivore gets right of way as fall polar bear season begins

Tuesday, 08 November, 2011 00:59 Written by admin

Big Churchill polar bear at Seal River on Hudson Bay

World's largest land carnivore has right of way here

by Andy MacPherson

The start of a new fall polar bear season!

The Turbo Beaver being busy down south, our first group of guests arrived in style in a helicopter, landing right at our front door. After settling into their rooms and taking in a brief safety orientation, we had them out viewing polar bears Churchill Wild style before lunch.

There were three bears in the immediate vicinity and all were accommodating. We were able to get close and view all three without disturbing them from their day beds. At this time of year the polar bears are focused on conserving as much energy as possible in anticipation of freeze up and the availability of their favourite meal, ringed seals, which will help them replenish their waning fat reserves.

On our way back to the lodge for lunch we discovered that the first bear we’d stopped to view earlier had ambled into the bay north of us. He was now comfortably bedded down in a bed of kelp lying on his back; stretching and playing with a piece of kelp, pulling it gently threw his teeth as if he were flossing.

After lunch we hiked out towards the west, to Swan Lake and back. We were met by a subadult bear on our way back, walking towards us up the path. He stopped when we asked him to, looking a little confused as to why we were blocking ‘His’ way. We moved off to one side, giving him the right of way – a smart thing to do when questioned by a polar bear. He passed by at a safe distance as our hearts pounded, pausing to get a good scent of us and posing for a few great photos along the way.

We are often approached by polar bears while we are out on hikes and away from the safety and comfort of the lodge. These are always exciting moments, and important times to be very observant of bear behaviour. Every bear that approaches us acts differently based on life experiences past and present. Negative or positive, these experiences will influence the way a bear reacts to us. This initial communication will determine our response to each approaching bear. While polar bears aren’t usually vocal, they do communicate very well through subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) body language and behaviour.

We watched the bear as he moved away from us and continued down the path towards Swan Lake, our excitement at his approach subsiding slightly as we moved back on to the path. Some of the guests asked where the bear was going and what he was thinking; how old he was and how much he weighed. Others marveled at what had just happened.

The largest land carnivore on the planet, a Churchill polar bear, had just walked by us and gone about his business, whatever that might be. It just wasn’t us…

at the moment.

Sun sets on a polar bear at Nanuk

Wednesday, 28 September, 2011 00:01 Written by admin

Polar bear at sunset Nanuk Polar bear Lodge

Sun sets on a polar bear...

by Andy MacPherson

After changing the batteries and cards on the Go Pro cameras we were using to see who had been feeding on a two-week old bear carcass, we continued heading east through the grassy coastal flats of Hudson Bay at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge.

The “We” I’m referring to is Adam Ravetch of Arctic Bear Productions and his film crew, who came to Nanuk to film some fall polar bear activity for his upcoming film to be released in 2012. The Go Pro camera has been filming a variety of critters large and small, all coming to feed on the remains of an unfortunate bear that passed along we think due to injuries and infection, possibly due to the usual, battling for females earlier this past spring. We should know the full details of his demise soon, as Conservation officers flew in this past week and checked him out. We’re hoping they’ll pass along their findings.

We were hoping to find a few bears going about their daily business of sleeping, wandering or being led by their nose to anything deserving of their interest. We spotted our third bear of the day lounging contentedly out on the tidal flats, disappointingly just a little out of our reach.

Ground level polar bear photography at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge

Polar bear photography up close and personal

We tried to get closer, but the Hudson Bay mud was a little too intimidating, causing us to leave an empty boot behind with every step forward. The bear was 150 meters away – secure as gold in Fort Knox – lazily watching our failed attempts to reach him over his left shoulder. Adam reluctantly admitted defeat to the mud and we made our way back to the chariot. But that turned out to be a good thing.

As soon as we reached the chariot we spotted another bear moving towards us from the east. At the same time we also noticed fellow guide Gordy and his buggy full of guests paralleling the bear at a distance. We moved a little closer, set up our camera gear and waited. We weren’t disappointed this time.

A beautiful four or five year old female polar bear moved towards us in the glow of late afternoon light. She hopped numerous small streams and slid effortlessly through the grass, providing us with some amazing footage. She stopped to the sound of my voice when she was about 30 meters away, then casually moved around us to the seaward side, giving us the over the shoulder looks as she passed by.

We quickly packed and played leap frog with the bear all the way back to the Misatkoken River, where she sniffed out our poor unfortunate friend. That was where we left her at twilight, outlined in golden light, standing on the crest of the beach ridge. All caught on the cameras of Adam Ravetch and…

soon to be a star on the big screen.

Four days at Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge – A Guide’s Diary

Tuesday, 27 September, 2011 16:02 Written by admin

Polar bear yawning with cub Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge

A yawn, a growl and a pleasant good morning to you too!

by Nolan Booth

There were three big polar bears hanging around Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge on the first day, one you could see from the Lodge. A mix of honkers and snow geese were buzzing the coast on and off all day. The numbers were low but it was still early. A mother black bear with three cubs showed up just outside the compound this afternoon while the guests were out “playing” with the white bears.

We have a small group of people for this trip and all are really getting along well with each other. Now all settled in and excited about the early bear sightings. Guest expectations were met right off the bat.

Had some good polar sighting bear sightings over the next two days and the guests got within 30 feet of a wicked black wolf. It was slower trying to travel east against a high tide and lots of water. Dinner was a little less formal than at Seal River Heritage Lodge as per guest recommendations and also the Aussies kept trying to clear the table etc. Everyone enjoyed the York Factory DVD.

Arctic wolves at Nanuk

The final day of the trip started off with a bang, literally! Lying in bed after the alarm went off I was woken up by a Kapow! That made me jump, and the screamer that followed it had me out the door in seconds to see one of our guides, Andy, backing off a big polar bear that had charged the fence. The bear backed off and we started getting the guests moving, but they certainly didn’t need much encouragement after that!

The big bear stayed with us, circling, hissing, and showing us how thrilled he was with Andy. He walked the entire way around from the kitchen to the runway. He then laid around for awhile before heading towards Hudson Bay to wake up another old timer for an argument followed by a morning mud bath. There was a wolf running east on the coast. All the guests spotted him, then another and another, five arctic wolves in total. Then the horseshoe jokes started.

It was a great way to end the trip!

The Legend of the Enchanted White Caribou

Thursday, 15 September, 2011 14:51 Written by admin

White bears, white whales and white… caribou?

Churchill Wild Staff got an unexpected treat – aside from the great caribou numbers along the Northern Manitoba/Nunavut border, in the Schmok Lake area they spotted a rare white caribou!

a rare white caribou

According to our Inuit staff & friends, the white caribou is an “enchanted caribou”, NOT something to be hunted, and they are apparently quite rare.

The legend goes something like this:

It seems that a long time ago, people had the power to turn into animals, and animals could turn into people. It was a time of magic – people had only to say what they wanted for it to come true.

There was young woman named Tyya who wandered far from home in search of driftwood, bones and caribou antlers. A thick fog rolled in and she became lost. She was rescued by Etasack, a young caribou hunter, who brought her to his home.

The next day before he left to go hunting, he warned Tyya not to let anyone enter the tent. But she was tricked by an evil shaman who turned her into a white caribou.

Etasack was very sad when he found her gone, but the sprit of his grandmother, another powerful shaman, gave him the magic means to break the spell.

The next day, the young man headed out to the tundra. He sought out the white caribou in the herd, recited the magic spell and returned Tyya to her human form.

Since then Inuit hunters have been kind to the white caribou, as it might be an enchanted person.

Another legend of the people of the north says the white caribou are shape-shifters, and can change between human and animal form. Many native hunters would leave them alone for this reason.

There is also a children’s book written in the 1980′s by Canadian author Elizabeth Cleaver called “The Enchanted Caribou“, which is often acted out with shadow puppets.

The Enchanted Caribou by Elizabeth Cleaver