Day 4 of the Grand Polar Bear Adventure

A sunny day on the tundra (C) WWF-Canada/ Riannon John
Everyone was excited for another day on the Tundra Buggy, and with good reason.  With the sun sparkling on the snow and barely any breeze, we were able to spot not only several bears, but also two Arctic foxes, an Arctic hare, and a few birds!
 
The Arctic fox was a particular treat, since they don’t often show themselves and are mostly out and about at night.  It was almost as if they knew we wanted to see them – one came out and almost circled the buggy, giving us plenty of opportunity to check it out (and snap one or two (hundred) pictures)!  The hare was not as outgoing – it hid in some willows and basically looked like a snowdrift with eyes.

The birds were interesting – we saw a Rusty Blackbird and a female Pintail.  They aren’t generally seen up here this late in the season, but there’s still plenty of water – even the little streams and ponds in the area haven’t frozen yet, let alone the Hudson Bay – which may have affected their migration patterns.
 
The polar bears were, again, the stars of the show.  We saw the same mother and cub from the day before, as well as several larger males – one of whom put on quite a performance!  With four buggies gathered around, he awoke from a long nap and treated us to a demonstrating of stretching and scratching (in some kind of inappropriate places, no less!) and grooming and rolling around.   When he got up, he also showed off his impressive size – his back was almost five feet from the ground, based on a comparison to the wheel of a Tundra Buggy!

Our WWF guests and Coke partners were thoroughly delighted, and all a little disappointed to be heading back to Winnipeg in the evening.  It just goes to show – you can’t get enough of polar bears in the wild!