Day 1 on the Tundra

At 5:30am from a warm, comfortable bed in our super clean Churchill Hotel room, I awoke to the sound of ?gunshot ?fireworks   Polar Bear Police!

At the window, I was greeted with a pitch dark sky and plenty of street lights illuminating town. At the end of town, not far from us, 2 vehicles sporting spotlights could be seen. There were short-lived bursts of explosive light, not unlike fireworks 50' overhead. "Someone" was being asked to leave the area before another busy day here begins. In my mind I had hoped to see a bear meandering through town but to be fair, I might have also pooped myself a little if that HAD been the view from our ground level bedroom window!  (Turns out the beary curious visitor made a personal appearance at the NatHab staff house instead.)

There was a light dusting of snow and a Canadian flag blowing - not gently. I thought this to be good polar bear weather, so into my notebook I scrawled "today is going to be a spectacular day! I'll try to contain tears of joy.... Or will I?"

Maybe you're a regular reader and you already know I had high hopes for this trip. I'm well aware it's nature and wild things show up when and if they want to show up. But no harm in aiming high, dreaming big and expecting the universe to hear your voice.

If you time travel back to a post I wrote at the end of December 2023, you'll find my Polar Bear bucket list. The 5 items I wanted to photograph while on the tundra. 

https://dallice.blogspot.com/2023/12/t-300-seriously-seriously.html

Spoiler alert! This bucket list had been nailed within 36 hours of hitting the tundra!

Pre-dawn we were barreling down a rocky road at 5mph in our tundra rover. Robert was driving. An orange glow on the horizon, 16 passengers sporting cameras and binoculars, the air palpable with excitement and anticipation.

The amazingness began fairly quickly. Polar bear joy!

Day one was epic. Best summed up in photos:

The bears we saw spend a surprising amount of time with closed eyes. There were strict rules around making noise - calling them or enticing them with food. It resulted in relaxed bears that had zero issues with us being pretty close while they napped, played and enjoyed their environment. (The bushes are willow-brush)

The feet are my favorite! If you've ever thought that lean bears look like a guy in a onesie... you'd be correct!

Arctic ptarmigan, while hard to see, are actually more plentiful than I first thought. Super cute, hardy as heck and apparently tasty... these pretty little "chicken of the tundra" did not end up on my plate during our trip!

Last but not least, those flashes of bright orange on the tundra rocks that caught your eye? Absolutely striking in this season and environment. Lobed, frilly and leafy up close.

May I introduce to you, Orange Sunburst Lichen - one of Manitoba's most prolific lichen species. You think living here qualifies it as hardy? Get this; It survived for over a year and a half in an extremely cold and oxygen-deficient atmosphere attached to the exterior of the orbiting International Space Station!