O Canada! Churchill, Manitoba — Day 3 — 2014-07-05

Day 3 of our Churchill trip… No orchids today, but there was one big surprise.

The day began clear, but soon the fog rolled in. We could see the fog bank off shore as it move closer in to land:

As we made our daily trip around the point to look for bears, birds, and other critters, we could see our ghost ship out in the bay, shrouded in fog once again:

After finding no bears or other large critters on the point this morning, we headed toward the port at Churchill where we would take a tour of Fort Prince of Wales, across the Churchill River. In the process of crossing the river, we were told that we would see pods of Beluga whales feeding on the huge schools of Capelin also known a Smelt that enter the river to spawn. The Capelin feed on plankton near the ice shelf and come toward the shore in breeding season.

We arrived at the dock and met the day’s tour guide at Sea North Tours. They outfitted us with life jackets, and gave us some safety instructions as we prepared to board the two Zodiacs tethered at the dock. Here is Walter Ezell, hands in his pockets, trying to stay warm. Note: we did have a few mornings where the temperature was in the low 40s Fahrenheit (4 Centigrade), but most of the days were rather pleasant. However, the wind was constant and made for some challenging photography:

Soon, we headed out of the port and entered the Churchill River. We can see Eskimo Point from the Zodiac and just a bit of the fort in the distance. Eskimo Point is a rocky outcropping that used to be under water hundreds of years ago, although it now has risen out of the sea thanks to the continuous process of isostatic rebound. We could also see a number of Beluga whales breaking the surface ahead of our Zodiac. It’s difficult to get a good shot of one of these amazing creatures, since it does not usually breach as do other whale species. This is the best close up shot that I was able to get of a Beluga whale as it approached our Zodiac. Note the blow-hole:

Here are two more shots of the pod of whales. The first shot shows a mom and calf. Note that the calf is dark gray in color. This color will slowly turn to while as the calf matures. The second shot shows a small pod of whales feeding in the river. The males can reach 18 feet (5.5 meters) in length and weigh up to 3500 pounds (1600 kg):

In short order, we made it to the dock on the other side of the river where we left the Zodiac and met the guide for our trip up to the Fort. As we walked toward the fort, she warned us about the possibility of bears and introduced us to the fellow with the rifle. His job was to use the rifle as a deterrent (sound annoys the bears) in case a bear approaches. They have never actually had to shoot one:

Outside the ramparts of the fort, were a number of canon on the ground. When the French captured Fort Prince of Wales in 1782, much of the fort was destroyed and the cannon were rendered unusable. They are in the process of being restored and will be placed back on the ramparts. In 1783, the fort was returned to the Hudson Bay Company, but by then, the fur trade was in decline, and the fort was ultimately abandoned.:

A bit of the history about the Fort: It was built as a log emplacement on Eskimo Point in 1717 by the Hudson Bay Company. Its sole purpose was to protect the center of the fur trade in the Hudson Bay area. The log structure was replaced by a stone emplacement in 1737, and served as a trading post where furs were bartered from the local inhabitants and shipped back to England. A small “city” of trappers and natives sprung up around the Fort and was the center of activity in the Churchill area. In 1782, with only 39 (non-military) men manning the fort, three French warships, led by Jean-François de La Pérouse, took it over without a single shot being fired. The fort’s Governor at the time, Samuel Hearne, having quickly recognized the numerical and military imbalance, surrendered immediately and handed over the key (so to speak). The fort was returned to the Hudson Bay Company in 1783 after the French had partially destroyed it and rendered the cannon unusable. Thereafter, its importance began to wane with the decline in the fur trade, although the post was later refounded a little way up the Churchill River.

Here are some inscriptions we saw on the wall of the Fort. I do not know their significance or why some were obliterated:

Our guide proceeded to open the gate and led us into the fort. The walls are an impressive 21 feet (6.5 meters) tall and 36 feet (11 meters) thick. Inside, we saw the officers’ quarters as well as the trading windows where the bartering for furs took place. Eventually, our guide led us up the stairs to the top of the rampart where the 40 cannon were originally positioned. From there we could see to the tip of Eskimo Point in the distance. After explaining more of the Fort’s history, our guide told us that a couple of bears had been seen early that morning, and maybe we would have a chance to spot one of them.

She pointed in the direction of a large rock some distance from the Fort, and right away, we could see a white lump in the grass. She explained that the bear was possibly injured but had been able to swim a great distance form the shrinking ice shelf out in the bay. Bears have been reported to swim up to 200 miles (320 km) to reach shore! That is probably the record distance, since most bears usually swim only 30 to 50 miles (50 to 80 km) each spring to reach the shore of Hudson Bay. The ice shelf was farther out than we could see from the top of the fort.

We took some shots of the white lump, disappointed that we could not see more of it. We were about to leave to return to the Zodiac, when the bear sat up and then stood up. Here are two shots that I was able to capture of our first Polar Bear sighting:

Well, I can tell you that made my day! Shortly after it stood up, it lay back down again and did not stir the rest of the day. It was not the last sighting we would have of Polar Bears, but it was the best for me.

We made it back to the dock where the other half of our gang was coming in for their tour of the Fort:

After we returned to port, we shared our story with the other group and gathered for lunch. After lunch, we boarded the van and headed back to the CNSC area where we would do more botanizing and birding.

On the way back, we passed the sign that designates the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. As we were heading out that morning, I had asked Lorne if I could photograph the sign and he agreed. We all got out of the van and set up for a group shot. I had to set the delay on my camera and run back to the sign so that I could be in the picture:

Here we are, (left to right):
Lorne and Joan Heshka (our trip leaders from Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Wilma Sotas (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Kathy Murray (Everett, WA)
Nancy Goodman (Hadley, MA)
Glen and Noreen Duncan (Winnipeg, MB)
Tim Sale and Irene Rainey (Winnipeg, MB)
Walter Ezell and Jim Fowler (Greenville, SC)

We were soon back in the van and heading back out into the tundra. Once we reached the coast, it was time to stop for some photographs. Here is Lorne focusing on some ducks just off shore:

Lorne, our group leader and chauffeur, is an avid birder as well as an orchid expert. So, we were able to get the best of both worlds on this trip.

Nearby was a sheltered area in the rocks where I found a very interesting plant, just in bud. It is Rubus chamaemorus or Cloudberry also called Bake-Apple. The fruit is used extensively for jams and jellies, and we tasted it on toast and ice cream on last year’s trip to Newfoundland. Bake-Apples are members of the rose family having close relatives such as the raspberry, blackberry, nagoonberry, and thimbleberry. Male and female flowers grow separately with each plant growing a single white, five petalled flower from the tip of the stem (I’ll have pictures of the flowers in a later blog entry). The fruit is red when unripe and turns a soft golden orange at maturity.

As we wandered in the tundra, we saw large numbers of Bartsia Alpina or Alpine Bartsia. I was still amazed that they were so plentiful in the area, since this is considered a very rare plant in Newfoundland:

Also nearby, we saw our first Pedicularis sudetica or Purple Rattle also known as Swedish Lousewort:

We finished up at this spot and got back into the van. Lorne drove another few hundred yards, when someone yelled, “Stop, Lorne!”. Off in the distance was our first sighting of Cygnus columbianus or Tundra Swan also called Whistling Swan. All of us piled out of the van to get a better view. These are very majestic and graceful creatures, and I was happy to be able to see them in the wild:

Near where we were standing, was a low-growing shrub that I was later to identify as Salix reticulata or Snow Willow. It is almost a ground cover in certain areas as its branches creep along the ground:

Soon, we got back into the van, and had just started rolling when another shout of, “Stop, stop, stop!” came from the back seat. This time, it was a group of Branta canadensis or Canada Goose. I counted 4 adults and 20 goslings in this group. I found it hilarious how the goslings spread their tiny wings when they run — and they are quite fast:

I would soon come to find out that there are seven variations on the theme of Canada Goose: Atlantic, Hudson Bay or Interior, Giant, Moffitt’s or Great Basin, Lesser, Dusky, and Vancouver. In general, the subspecies nesting farther north are smaller in size, and they area darker in color to the west. Who knew?… (I guess the birders already knew that.)

Finally, I’ll leave you with one more shot of an interesting shadow that I saw just before getting back into the van. I was finishing photographing the swans, when I looked down and saw the silhouette of the flowers of a Three-toothed Saxifrage perfectly cast on a nearby rock. Nothing special about the plant or the rock, but the serendipity of being there at the exact moment to see the silhouette was very special:

–Jim