OMG was it incredible! We were out of the tundra buggy launch pad by 9:00a and within a mile or so, we experienced our first bear. He was very close to the path, on a slightly elevated lakeshore.
From there, the day only got better as we had a very active morning of bear viewing . . . including a momma and two cubs. At first they were completely out of sight, but someone on the buggy noticed the movement in the willows. Out appeared the mom. As though that wasn't good enough, up popped a cub head . . . and then the second. The momma enjoyed
sliding down the hill as her babies watched. One came out almost immediately, while the other seemed a bit more timid. Eventually he too came out, although he seemed to lag behind and had to run often to catch up when mom was ready to move.
sliding down the hill as her babies watched. One came out almost immediately, while the other seemed a bit more timid. Eventually he too came out, although he seemed to lag behind and had to run often to catch up when mom was ready to move.
This big boy was on the shore of the Hudson Bay. As you can see the ice is starting to form. From time to time he could be seen munching on some old dried up sea kelp that had washed up onto the shore. Near the end of the day we stopped in at the Great White Bear Lodge, the tundra camp for those who want to live out with the bears during their stay in Churchill. There were a couple of bears in and around the camp, but this one seemed to only have mischief on his mind.
I wish I had more time to write and post more photos here. I have uploaded a few more on my PictureTrail account: http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/20898917 .
Hopefully I'll have more time tomorrow!
