Followup photos

Churchill - Day Ten

Started off morning as usual until it hits me. My team will be heading in one direction and I’ll be going in another. Got my coffee and found a quiet observation place to look outside and reflect upon this incredible opportunity and amazing journey. We all just picked up and left our hustle and bustle lives to come to a place that seems like an alternate reality. Our priorities are reorganized for a while and we managed just fine without phones, T.V., and texts. Of course, no one could live without wifi.

So even though the morning routine was in progress, I was a little out of sync with the group that I’ve come to know and work with these past days. Our morning briefing gave an outline of todays duties – sampling at Tree Island 14 (no lunch until finished!), back for lunch and then maintenance and clean up tasks, dinner, lecture on preliminary sampling results and then a farewell party complete with some local foods. The big must eats are caribou and char (fish). Had the fish at Gypspy’s and it tastes a lot like salmon.

We gave Pete our parting gift of Laphroaig single malt scotch hoping he would up the ante of a shot reward to those who might find new seedlings. Conversation about his Earthwatch responsibilities and his forthcoming retirement from university ensued. All too quickly, everyone dispersed to get ready for the day ahead. My final goodbyes were made at the van departure point, with hopes to keep in touch and even reunite with the L. A. crowd before summers end. A fond adieu to all my fellow educators and hope all your adventures are as terrific as this one. As one journey ends – another begins.
MORE PICTURES TO FOLLOW

Churchill - Day Nine

Our first day sleeping until almost breakfast.As`we stumbled out of our room trying to get to the coffee machine, one of our group was running down the hall to get his camera saying he saw a bear. Well we all grabbed our photographic equipment and piled into his room.Sure enough, there was a juvenile polar bear meandering our way. We watched as he got progressively closer - probably smelling the freshly cooked breakfast. He took a rest in the trees and I went down to grab a quick bite to eat and returned to watch from the second story outdoor observation deck. There was nothing nicer than to eat breakfast outside and watch a polar bear up close. The center did try shooting cracker (warning) shots to keep him from getting too close and he backed off into the trees.I think most of us could have stayed there watching all day.

Our breakfast visitor

Well the rest of the day wen pretty much normally. We had a beautiful day but the bugs are beginning to come out in full force. On went the bug nets, thank goodness they were effective. When we get into the van at the end of the day, the windows need to be cleaned on the inside from all the smashed bugs.
We were treated to a special lecture from some researchers staying here at he center. The first talk was on different nest building of the So. Canadian warbler and the arctic warbler. The second was on the long migratory pattens of two populations of godwits- alaskan and arctic.

Coffee with a familiar town mug

Our fun and fearless educators of today

Arctic rhododendron

Carley -Its the bear you don't see thats the problem!

Bugs be Gone

Last day of work

I will be leaving the area tomorrow and I will miss our teachers group, our director and staff and the work we were doing. The friendly jesting and sharing of our experiences have made us a close group.The beauty of this part of the continent is astounding and I hope to take some of the peace and serenity home with me.

Churchill - Day Eight

No attempt at getting up in the middle of the night since  no one had any northern lights success and we were pretty exhausted from our day off. Its gloomy outside and predicted to get worse - loads of rain. Breakfast, briefing, dressing, loading up and out to last site. We were on plot samples - counting all new growth - for the morning. The rains came as predicated and we plowed on till the job was done. Warm soup in the warm cafeteria was very welcomed.


Creative breakfast menu



Stairs to observation dome



Weather Rock: If its wet, its raining, if it moves, its windy, you get the picture






Weathering of rocks




shopping anyone?




Only open shop in town

 The afternoon was a washout for outdoors work and we caught up on core sample maintenance. Drying, gluing, and sanding.
Quieter afternoon, catching up on loose ends.
Had our after dinner lecture about some of the research data from previous years work - gave us an idea of how what we are doing will be used to forecast tree growth trends.

Churchill - Day Seven

Well its been a fun-filled day off. We were up and running for an early departure with Carley (research associate/tour guide) packing us up in the van and taking us to some of the towns highlights. We got out several times to walk  a couple of beaches, an old fort, Cape Merry, and around town. You could see the belugas from the road, feedng  off capelin  in the waters.We spent some time shopping- only 1 gift type shop - Parks Canada Museum -located in the train station- and some local rustic log cabin type hotels. We spent a bit of time in the Eskimo museum which exhibited  a great deal of native craftsmanship. After that we took a zodiac boat ride to the river off the bay to see beluga whales. We were astonished to see so many whales so close up. We cut the engines and moms and calves would come directly up to the boat and just glide alongside or underneath. The crew put in microphones so we could hear their songs. We spent about 2 hours out on the water and even saw a seal. It was really incredible - pictures to follow tomorrow. We had a terrific dinner at Gypsy's - a Portuguese owned restaurant. I even had escargot.



"Polar Bear Playground"




Serene pond by the fort



Have to send to
The Acorn

Beluga surfacing near boat

Pete took us out after dinner where we continued our local tour. He and Carley really know the area extremely well. We hit beaches, rivers, marina-like docks, memorials and just wide open areas.  Was able to find some bay beach glass to take home. Had a stone skippng competition from the river bank. We saw arctic swans, ospreys, 2 bald eagles, arctic terns,  and lots of ducks and geese. We were thrilled to see a single polar bear  moving inland. We were trippng over ourselves to get out and watch. Along in our travels we stopped and saw another bear, this one with 2 cubs and not so far away. This was amazing because we really did not expect to see any. We headed back towards the center and stopped at the bear jail where they put persisent bears for 30 days before they relocate them. Then off to the beach for sunset. What do we see - another polar bear on the rocks. This one was too close for comfort and we  could not stay long. The long day ended with a magnificent sunset and a short ride back to the center.

Bear Jail

Contemporary Bear Trap

sunset

sunset

Churchill - Day Six



Gluing down cores



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Well last night was a bust for the northern lights. Everyone woke up at various times to check it out but it was rainy and overcast, so we all just got tired. It was good to  take care of the previous days work ( gluing down core samples into trays) . We headed out to a new site  along a pond and began coring tree trunks. Weather was sunny, cool and windy. Had an observation from a group of visiting possible funders in the project. It was good to be able to speak intelligently about the research we are conducting.

 Our biggest thrill was when we were leaving the site in the morning and we were alerted to a polar bear siting. Sure enough, off in the distance was a bear coming from the bay inland. All the photographic and magnifying equipment came  whipping out. We were fascinated by the quick movement of a large and animal. He was about a mile away but we could clearly see his white body moving through the brownish terrain even without binoculars. Everyone was  a little more alert during our afternoon work!

The winds died down and we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon on the tundra. We left early to get supplies in town and were treated to another wildlife sighting - this time , belugas whales just off the coast.

baby belugas

 You could see their white bodies surfacing while they were catching dinner. There must have been at least a hundred of them.Hopefully we will see them up close tomorrow on our day off in town. Came back to another fine dinner at the center.

ice wedge pond

wolf print

fox den

arctic fox

Took a drive deeper into the boreal forest area. Our director knows the land extremely well and is an excellent tour guide. Some of the highlights were seeing an arctic fox, wolf footprints, snow goose, and bear dens. We wre able to dig only a few inches below the surfaceto touch an icesheet (permafrost layer). We ended up at one side of Twin Lakes for a beautiful sunset on the lakeshore.