Churchill Jun 12—18, 2011
Posted by Jeri Langham
Jeri Langham
Jeri M. Langham has a Ph.D. in plant ecology from Washington State University, and after 38 years as a professor of biological sciences at California State University ...Related Trips
After 26 years of leading this tour, I still tingle with anticipation as our plane arrives and I look down to see how much ice and snow are left on all the familiar land, Churchill River, and Hudson Bay areas that we get to visit over the next five days.
On all of my tours, I write a journal covering the locations we visit and most of the highlights of each day. After I return home, and have a chance to do some editing, I mail it to the participants. Here are a few highlights from our trip:
Day 2, June 13: Flight to Churchill — We started seeing Long-tailed Ducks and Arctic Terns on the way to check nearly frozen-over Isabelle Lake, and then back to the Highway Road passing Akudlik Marsh where Ross's Gulls used to nest and where I saw my first one 26 years ago. It has been at least four years since anyone has seen a Ross's Gull here in Churchill, but I keep hoping they will return. Then it was on to magnificent breeding-plumaged Red-necked Phalaropes, Ruddy Turnstones, Snow Buntings, and Lapland Longspurs along the bank of the Churchill River near the upper dock. When we arrived, the tide was out and the real prize went to gulls: the best was a single Sabine's Gull (seen on only 5 previous tours since they have usually passed through by the time I arrive), followed closely by Iceland, Glaucous, Thayer's, Bonaparte's, Herring, and Ring-billed gulls. I could not have been happier with our start.
After our siesta we visited the Granary Ponds. I can never remember having such a productive visit here. It was loaded with shorebirds and waterfowl. The best were probably the Baird's and White-rumped sandpipers, but we also got great looks at Stilt, Semipalmated, Least, and Spotted sandpipers, as well as Short-billed Dowitchers, Red-necked Phalaropes, Semipalmated Plovers, and many species of ducks, the best being a Black Duck. The piles of wheat hulls at the next pond were loaded with Lapland Longspurs and a few Snow Buntings. From here we headed to the lower dock area where the ice floes were impressive, and so were the large numbers of Common Eiders. I drove you out to Cape Merry for a quick look at the fort across the Churchill River.
Day 3, June 14: Churchill — It was colder today and thus quite different from yesterday's hot weather. Our early group saw both species of redpolls and our first Beluga whales. On the way to Scrap Metal Dump, we took part of the Coast Road so you could see all the dogs being trained for dog-sledding during the polar bear season. The bird feeders at Bilenduke's gave us our first Pine Grosbeaks, Gray Jays, Boreal Chickadees, and Slate-colored Juncos. Continuing on Goose Creek Road, we picked up Hudsonian Godwit and another Merlin.
After our siesta, a flock of gulls and Common Ravens over the dog compound took us there first and we lucked out when Becky spotted an adult red fox. We spent over half an hour taking many photos of the adult and its pup or kit. The road beyond Landing Lake was flooded, but we added an incredibly cooperative Harris's Sparrow, a much less cooperative American Tree Sparrow, and got our best views of Hoary Redpoll, which can be a difficult species to find here. Paula spotted a male Willow Ptarmigan as we drove out and it really performed well for the group.
Day 4, June 15: Twin Lakes — In the short grassy tundra on Launch Road, before reaching the "twin golf balls" and research station, we had great looks at a pair of American Golden-Plovers, watched a Whimbrel chasing a Parasitic Jaeger, and saw a Parasitic Jaeger on her nest. In spite of the terrible weather, we had a great "chicken" day due to seeing three Spruce Grouse and a couple of Willow Ptarmigans. After reaching the taiga forest near Twin Lakes, we began our search for Bohemian Waxwings, stopping many times until we reached Cook Street. Another birding group was just coming out and reported no luck with Spruce Grouse or Bohemian Waxwings. In our first attempt to find a Spruce Grouse, we formed a line in the spruce forest and slowly walked along to try to locate a bird. We found none, but the soft, spongy, lichen-covered forest floor amazed you all. Becky flushed a Northern Pintail from her hidden nest and we looked at her eggs. Coming back to the road, we walked to the lake where the A-frame cabin had been trashed and there was a pair of Common Loons on a small area of open water near the shore. I have never seen this lake so covered with ice. Leaving you here while going to get our bus, Paula and I walked back through the forest on the other side of the road and I found our target, a male Spruce Grouse. I left Paula to keep an eye on it as I went to get all of you with the bus. This male was very cooperative and we got great looks and lots of photographs. As we walked out of the forest to our bus, Paula spotted a very agitated male on the other side of the road. This one gave us an even better performance.
With smiles from ear-to-ear, I drove you further down Twin Lakes road to a large clearing where we ate our sandwiches and other lunch items in the bus due to drizzle. From here I drove you through the old burn area to another place where I have seen Bohemian Waxwings, but none of the three groups down at Twin Lakes today was able to find any. At the turnaround spot, we did find a very noisy pair of Merlins that did not want us getting close to their nest. A little later, on a different road that took us to a cabin at the base of the other lake, we encountered another male Spruce Grouse. On the long drive back we enjoyed performances by two male Willow Ptarmigans.
Day 5, June 16: Churchill — Today I decided to go back to Launch Road and start with a visit to the old dump. What a great choice, since the area was loaded with Sandhill Cranes, Canada Geese and, more importantly, Ross's and Snow geese. When we drove over to the back area that is now filled with piles of wheat waste, we discovered several hundred Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings. I estimate this to be several times more than I have seen in ALL my previous 25 tours to Churchill. Elated from this experience, we drove over to the overlook by the Auroral Observatory where we could view the entire tundra area below. As you enjoyed the scenery, I spotted a caribou and we had great scope views watching it first lying down, then standing up and scratching for us. At a new location that several research students told me about, we heard the Smith's Longspur rattle several times. At least one of you saw the female with me and a few others saw the flying male, but we never got scope views. Best for me here was an adult, dark-phase Pomarine Jaeger…my first one at Churchill.
Day 6, June 17: Flight to Winnipeg — We started out at the river and made our way past the Granary Ponds to the boardwalk at Cape Merry where we could see the tide coming in as ice floes were being pushed upriver. We stopped several times and did spot Beluga whales, Snow Geese, Spotted Sandpiper, Common Eider, and both Common and Red-breasted mergansers. We still had some time before our plane departed, so I decided to drive down Goose Creek Road to either visit the Weir or the Observation Tower. Luckily, I chose the Observation Tower since we discovered SEVEN Little Gulls flying around a small body of water within 50 yards of the parking lot. I could not have planned a better farewell experience than we had here. We stayed for about 30 minutes of pure joy and hundreds of photos.