Churchill in the "Off" Season

Tundra Color

Perhaps the nicest time to visit Churchill is mid-September. There is no competition for motel rooms at this time of year. Tour operators are gearing up for the polar bear season and the summer tourists are all gone. While most of the migrant birds have departed, some linger and the resident birds are present, of course.

Harris' Sparrow, which can be annoyingly difficult to find in breeding season, are present in large numbers and flock to local feeders. Spruce Grouse are still in family groups and are often very easy to locate in the Twin Lakes area. On the other hand, Willow Ptarmigan, while present, are at their most elusive. They are molting, and go off into the woods to avoid becoming meals for hungry raptors and other carnivores. It is almost impossible to find these birds, which are so very easy to find at almost any other time of year.

Surprisingly, one of the best places around Churchill to visit in September is the town dump! The surrounding tundra and spruce forest habitats are underlain with permafrost and are quite infertile. At the dump, things are different. For decades truck loads of dust and dirt cleaned from the grain that was railed into Churchill and shipped out of its port, has been discarded into the dump. This dirt is the most fertile soil in Churchill and plants respond with lush growth. Fireweed is abundant. Seashore Chamomile at other places only a few inches high, spurts to two or three feet in the dump. This is the only place in Churchill where Butter and Eggs can be found - in rich stands three feet in height.

With abundant plant life, the dump attracts the seed-eating birds. Snow Buntings are here in the hundreds on their way south. Horned Larks and American Pipits can be found, as well as the most common sparrows, White-crowned and Savanna. The gulls are there too, although they are attracted to more obnoxious food than benign weed seeds! Glaucous Gulls and well as Herrings are present in September.

While the weather is usually very pleasant, fall color is what is most appealing about September in Churchill. Dwarf Birches turn bright orange. These fascinating miniature trees can be only two inches high when exposed to severe winds, although three or more feet in spread. Protected, the dwarfs grow to three feet or more. The willows and tamaracks turn yellow, contrasting nicely with dark green of White Spruce and grey Quartzite rock.

But it is Bearberries that turns the tundra to post card beauty. Seeing plovers or Snow Geese out on this brilliant scarlet carpet feasting on berries is a sight that no person who enjoys esthetics will ever forget. Churchill's natural beauty is at its height in September.

Spruce Grouse

September also offers easier sightings of both red and arctic foxes than at other times of the year. Foxes are heavily trapped around Churchill and so are usually skittish and uncommon. In early fall, however, particularly young animals can be viewed more commonly and are sometimes even a bit approachable.

Yes, Churchill has much to offer the nature lover, from April through mid-November. If you want to chalk up long lists of birds, visit in June. If you want to see the bears, come in mid-October through mid-November. But if you want to enjoy the entire natural scene, unimpeded by crowds, try another time of year. You'll come home refreshed with a keen sense of the ecology of this northern outpost.

[ Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 ]

Polar Bears

Bob Mumford is a naturalist and nature photographer, concentrating on birds. He has birded and photographed over much of North America and made eleven trips to Churchill, during seven different calendar months. He is working on a coffee table book on Churchill's natural attractions.

[ Back to Top ]