We flew into Churchill, Manitoba on Calm Air late this afternoon. It's a bit of a return to Winter for me...in fact, it is likely colder here now than it was in Estevan for most of the past Winter. I will survive and so will my cohorts, except Rhonda from Alabama is not quite aclimatized to this sort of chill. The breeze coming in off the iced over Hudson's Bay is mightly cold.
So far the birding is fantastic, and I expect it will just keep getting better. This is my first trip Up North so many of the northern birds are Lifers for me. It is very exciting.
This is the tide coming in near the mouth of the Churchill River near the old grain terminals.
There are hundreds of Ruddy Turnstones sitting on the little ice flows near shore. Many pairs of Common Eiders (Lifer), a few pairs of Long-tailed Ducks, one pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, many Arctic Terns (Lifer) and several Parasitic Jaegers (Lifer) scaring them into dropping their freshing caught lunch. Amazing to watch.
Anyway, I'm tired tonight. Maybe I'll get a couple hours tomorrow to sort through some pix and post a few. I've been averaging 4 hours sleep per night, with little 'time off'. Hope I can sort through a few pix tomorrow and post some things.
My alarm is set for 4:45 a.m. We are meeting at 5:45 for breakfast and then off birding who knows how many hours. Our leader, Ken, is just a trifle hyper. We older gals need a tad more rest than he seems to....however, we are pretty gung-ho ourselves!
So far the birding is fantastic, and I expect it will just keep getting better. This is my first trip Up North so many of the northern birds are Lifers for me. It is very exciting.
This is the tide coming in near the mouth of the Churchill River near the old grain terminals.
There are hundreds of Ruddy Turnstones sitting on the little ice flows near shore. Many pairs of Common Eiders (Lifer), a few pairs of Long-tailed Ducks, one pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, many Arctic Terns (Lifer) and several Parasitic Jaegers (Lifer) scaring them into dropping their freshing caught lunch. Amazing to watch.
Anyway, I'm tired tonight. Maybe I'll get a couple hours tomorrow to sort through some pix and post a few. I've been averaging 4 hours sleep per night, with little 'time off'. Hope I can sort through a few pix tomorrow and post some things.
My alarm is set for 4:45 a.m. We are meeting at 5:45 for breakfast and then off birding who knows how many hours. Our leader, Ken, is just a trifle hyper. We older gals need a tad more rest than he seems to....however, we are pretty gung-ho ourselves!
