Nanuk, the Polar bear

Nanuk is the Inuit word for Polar Bear.

Do you want to see Polar Bears? If yes you have to visit Churchill in Manitoba, Canada in October or the first 10 days of November. In this time of the year some 800 polar bears are coming to the Churchill-river and are waiting for the Hudson Bay to freeze so they can go on the pack-ice and hunt the seals.

How to get there: The hub to Churchill is Winnipeg (YWG). I got there from Munich (MUC) over Toronto-Pearson (YYZ).

There  are numerous provider for this adventure. I choose the biggest one Frontiers North.

What do you need there? The tour operator of your choice will provide you information about the clothing, I would like to tell you what kind of equipment do you need there and why.

1. tripod and a wide angle lens 14-24mm to photograph the Northern lights. You don't need tripods for the bears, rather a beam-bag.
2. 70-200mm f2.8 to photograph the bears in the early morning. The bears will come very close to you
3. 500-600mm to photograph sparing bears or swimming bears or polar foxes or polar hares...

Most of the time you will spend with your buggy driver and with your photographer. I was lucky to have two people with charm and spirit, Jessica to my right and J.P. to my left.

But let me first  tell you more about Churchill in Manitoba.
I was picked up from the Airport and our first destination, next to the airport was the bear-jail. If bears are coming to close to Churchill, the rangers will try to banish them and if this doesn't work...

... they go to the jail....

My first picture of the Hudson bay, still not frozen jet, which actually is very sad, as polar bears need Pack Ice to hunt. Following some pictures from Manitoba as first impressions.

I love the next ice sculptures created by nature.

 

Churchill is a small town with a beautiful Church...

Tundra-Buggy-Lodge, this was my home for 5 nights. In the foreground you see the reason, why it is strictly forbidden to touch the ground while living there.

Here is the reason why you need 70-200mm lens.

300 days a year there are Northern Lights in Churchill... One need only clear sky to see them... and here is the reason why you need a 14-24mm lens. and a tripod.

 The sunsets in the white tundra can be very spectacular.

Right the first day we saw a swimming polar bear... and I knew this journey is already a success.

 Pack-Ice

Spending two hours with the foxes on IBSP and why networking is so important.

Visiting my wife Anja in NJ, I convinced her to visit Maryland and to spend the weekend there. She found a very nice hotel with a SPA for her which gave me the opportunity to photograph bald eagles fishing in Conowingo Dam. This will be theme for another  blog.

At Conowingo Dam, I was happy to meet Peter, an American photographer from the neighborhood. Speaking about photography, I asked him to tell me about good spots.  I got the hint, that in the Island Beach State Park IBSP, there is a great opportunity to see red foxes. In November they changed already their pelt and got this beautiful orange thick winter pelt, so I decided to spent some hours there.

Coming home, I started my researches on Google, afterwards I checked pictures on FB, FLICKR, G+ and 500pix, to see what kind of lens I would need there. It seemed to be 70-200mm. To be on the safe side I took one TC 2.0 III with me, which was a very good decision.  I found also a blog from Ray Hennessey and was very sure that I'm well prepared to found them.

On Friday, I finished my work in the early afternoon as my days usually start at 4am in the U.S. because of my jetlag. It took me an hour to drive there. I paid the 5$ admission fee and there were no more hurdles for fun to start immediately...

The Park is mainly used by fisherman, a lot of fisherman... Foxes will wait until at least 4 pm as at that time most of the day-visitors are gone. You don't have to search for them, just drive the only way in the park up and down and they will find you.

Waiting for the foxes to come I took some pictures:

 Burnt down wood from beach fire made by the fishermen

 

 Barnegat light

 

 Dune grass

 

 Dune plants

 

 Savannah sparrow

 

 Herring gull pointing out the rules in the park

 



Fishermen will spend the night on the beach

 

I had time until 5pm only as I had to drive back and to pick up my wife Anja from work. So it was time for the foxes to finally show up...