Guest Post and Photos by Christian Artuso, PhD
Bird Studies Canada – Manitoba Program Manager
Common Redpoll
Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge is located on the Hudson Bay coast east of York Factory. While the main attractions are polar bears and black bears, there is also a fascinating mix of Arctic, Sub-arctic and southern bird species around the Lodge.
It’s an easy to walk out to the coastal flats or inland into the boreal ridges and wetlands from the Lodge, and in addition to the wildlife and bird watching, this is a great area to appreciate the big picture landscape of Hudson Bay, the northern lights, and spectacular Arctic sunsets.
This area surrounding Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge is rich in bird life. Through our work with the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas, we recorded 175 species in the area. The Hudson Bay coast teams with waterfowl and shorebirds and there is always the possibility of a rarity, so it is worth bringing a scope to scan flocks that may include American Black Duck, Mallard, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Whimbrel, Black Scoters and more.
Fox Sparrow
Hudsonian Godwits (over 1200 birds) can be found near a high-tide roost at the mouth of the Mistikokan River, and the coastal shorebirding at small bodies of water in the coastal zone and along the mud flats is superb. There is a steady parade of raptors on show, Ospreys nest not far from the Lodge and there is a good array of northern songbirds in their breeding plumage. This is also an excellent place to photograph birds like the Common Redpoll, Blackpoll Warbler, Northern Shrike, Fox Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird and Northern Harrier.
One of the fascinating things about the Nanuk area is the ridge and swale landscape, with ridges clad in coniferous trees interspersed with wet meadows. The walking is quite easy along the ridges, which often have well-worn caribou trails. Most of the intervening wetlands are not too difficult to cross, many being wet meadows with very shallow water and lots of Yellow Rails and other wet meadow associated species. Sandhill Cranes are just one of many species that breed in these meadows.
Nelson’s Sparrow
If you’re a birder who enjoys chasing the elusive flat-headed sparrows, the wetland swales are well worth a visit. The Hudson Bay subspecies of Nelson’s Sparrow breeds here and is quite common. Surprisingly perhaps, because range maps don’t show them occurring this far north, Le Conte’s Sparrows breed here in the same meadows as the Nelson’s Sparrows. You will also find other southern species here that you might not expect, such as the Black-capped Chickadee, although in this location the Boreal Chickadee is much more common.
In addition to bird watching, Nanuk offers superb wildlife viewing opportunities. Polar bears and black bears occur in close proximity (the former on the coastal flats, the latter away from the coast) and are both fairly easy to observe. I also had no less than three sightings of timber wolves which included observing a black wolf hunting goslings.
Black wolf on the prowl near Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge.
About the Author: Christian Artuso is the coordinator of the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas (www.birdatlas.mb.ca). He traveled to both Seal River Heritage Lodge and Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge to document birds in the area in 2012 and 2013. Despite having photographed wildlife from around the world, he has a special fondness for northern Manitoba, where all the photos in both this post and his Birdwatching at Seal River Heritage Lodge post were taken during the summer and fall. For more from Christian please visit his blog at http://artusobirds.blogspot.com and his Web site at http://artusophotos.com.
