Churchill in the "Off" Season

Indian Paintbrush

By May, many more migrants arrive, ponds open for waterfowl, and the first wild flowers like Purple Saxifrage bloom. Towards the end of the month, the Churchill River mouth opens and collects huge flocks of sea birds like gulls, loons, jaegers and mergansers. Perhaps the most interesting thing in May for the non-resident birder is watching the Willow Ptarmigan. While one seldom sees photographs or reads reports of such doings, the male Willow displays very much like a Sage Grouse, spreading its tail and dropping its head. But these mating rituals do not occur on a lek, just wherever a pair of birds happens to be. And the birds seem to be paired off before the displays and not as a consequence of a compelling dance.

June brings the remaining migrants, the warblers, sparrows, thrushes, waxwings and other nesters. And also the birders. Birding tour groups arrive and bring scores of people eager to see northern species that cannot easily be seen in the lower 48. The major attractions are: Hudsonian Godwits, Spruce Grouse, Ptarmigan, Boreal Chickadees, and Smith's Longspurs, among others. Other birds of interest are Pacific Loons and Harris' Sparrow in breeding plumage. The lovely Lapland Rosebay, a dwarf rhododendron, turns sections of the tundra pink.

Hudsonian Godwit

But the major draw is the exquisite Ross' Gull. While these mostly Asian birds can occasionally be seen in the U.S., they are virtually never in pink breeding plumage. At Churchill they are, but the numbers are few. They have attempted to nest a number of times - the only documented nesting in North America - but have only been successful a few times. Unfortunately, birders and bird photographers have intruded into the nesting process.

By July all the migrants have passed through Churchill and the birders almost entirely departed. But wildflowers are in abundance, the weather usually much better than June, and the nesting birds beginning to hatch. Seashore Camomile, a daisy like flower can be found, as well as Milkvetch, Wintergreen, Alpine Arnica, Purple Paintbrush and the nearly ubiquitous Mountain Avens. This is when most people come for the ghostly white Beluga Whales that can be seen cavorting in the river from ones incoming flight. Guides take tourists out onto the river and can approach the whales closely, as they are not hunted in this area anymore.

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Ross' Gull