Though the main purpose of my trip was to photograph and video the birds of the tundra, I also got in a bit of landscape and flora photography. Lapland Rosebay (Rhododendron lapponicum) was by far the most dominant wildflower (actually a dwarf shrub) in the landscape. The showy purple-pink flowers dotted the tundra and edges of the boreal forests. At only a few inches high, it is funny to think of this as the same genus of the much larger Rhododendrons and Azaleas that are more familiar to us in “the south.”
I learned that the Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens makes a pretty darn good macro lens due to its amazing close focusing ability. You’ll see many “telephoto macro” images below using this lens.
I also used the iPhone 7+ for several landscape photos. Post processing them with Snapseed on the phone.
Oversized inch-long catkins dwarf the willow they belong to. I believe this is Salix arctica or Arctic Willow. [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens at 287 mm; 1/320 sec at f5; ISO 320; +0.66 ev; handheld]
Edge of the boreal forest on a road off of Goose Creek Road. [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
[iPhone 7+ and post processed with Snapseed on the phone]
An interesting phenomenon I witnessed was the mirage of icebergs on Hudson Bay. Low floating pans of ice appeared to be giant walls of icebergs or a glacier when viewed through the heat shimmer of midday. [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
Willows, dwarfed Spruce, water pools and scoured bedrock dot the landscape along the shores of Hudson Bay. [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
Quartz veins on bedrock decorated with lichens. [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens at 100 mm; 1/400 sec at f10; ISO 640; +1.33 ev; handheld]
Lichens [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
Lapland Rosebay at the base of a lichen encrusted boulder. [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens at 135 mm; 1/250 sec at f11; ISO 640; +1.33 ev; handheld]
Lapland Rosebay (Rhododendron lapponicum) is actually a dwarf rhododendron shrub that enlivens the tundra in early summer (mid June).
[Sony A6500 with Rokinon 10mm lens; 1/160 sec at ??; ISO 320; handheld]
The dwarf rhododendron called Lapland Rosebay (Rhododendron lapponicum) is only a few inches tall (3 – 18 inches around Hudson Bay), but it has spectacular purple-pink blossoms. It is in the Family Ericaceae along with other small shrubs including blueberries, cranberries, Leatherleaf, Bog Rosemary, Bog Laurel and azaleas.
[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens at 400 mm; 1/640 sec at f5.6; ISO 200; -0.33 ev; handheld]
Lapland Rosebay and spruce. This dwarf shrub grows around the world at farn northern latitudes. [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens at 100 mm; 1/100 sec at f13; ISO 400; +1 ev; handheld]
Lapland Rosebay and spruce. [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
An island of Lapland Rosebay on the edge of the boreal forest along Twin Lakes Road. [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
[Sony A6500 with Rokinon 10mm lens; 1/160 sec at ??; ISO 320; handheld]
Lapland Rosebay and Reindeer lichens. Caribou in winter paw through the snow to get at and feed on Reindeer lichen, which is also known as “Caribou Moss.” [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
Lichen pattern
The white flower with red speckled petals is Saxifraga tricuspidata or Prickly Saxifrage (a.k.a Three-toothed Saxifrage), one of the most common Saxifrages in the Arctic. It is a colonizer of bedrock, taking hold in cracks. Its Inuktitut name is kakilahan.
Northern White Mountain Avens (Dryas integrifolia) ?? Not quite sure. The leaves below are not Dryas leaves, but maybe from another flower?
Interesting boulder with more resistant quartz veins.
The tundra is extremely colorful in the fall, but equally so in June in spots.
Northern White Mountain Avens (Dryas integrifolia) is a member of the rose family. It is a circumpolar species and is found across Arctic Canada into Alaska and west through Siberia. It is also found at high eleveations in the Rocky Mountains. This species exhibits “heliotropism” as the flower faces and tracks the sun as it moves across the landscape. This may be more attractive to insects as it creates a warmer microclimate. [Launch Road tundra; Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
[Sony A6500 with with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens at 286 mm; 1/320 sec at f6.3; -1 ev; ISO 100; handheld]
Northern White Mountain Avens (Dryas integrifolia) range map
Northern White Mountain Avens (Dryas integrifolia) had gone to seed in the warmer parts of the Churchill area. Styles of the pistil elongate, twist and become fluffy heads from which the feathery seeds disperse in the wind. [Cook Street off Twin Lakes Road; Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens at 400 mm; 1/250 sec at f5.6; ISO 200; +1 ev; handheld]
Northern White Mountain Avens (Dryas integrifolia) [Cook Street off Twin Lakes Road; Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens at 263 mm; 1/400 sec at f5.6; ISO 200; +1 ev; handheld]
Gulls, jaegers, terns, loons, sea ducks…All can be seen at the tip of Cape Merry (remnant ice chunks float in the background). [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
Speedboat in the Arctic? No, just a wonderfully shaped ice floe drifting past Cape Merry. It upended and sank a minute later. [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
Ice chunks on Hudson Bay and steel gray skies greeted me as I arrived in Churchill on June 16th.
Ice floated in and out of the shoreline areas of Hudson Bay during my entire visit (June 16-20). [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
“Flag Spruce” dot the tundra in clumps such as this. They are shaped by the harsh winter conditions; snowpack covers the lower branches, protecting them from the strong ground winds that carry ice chunks and scour the middle trunk of all its branches. The tip of the spruces still carry needle-bearing branches (the “flag”) as they are above the effects of the ice-scouring forces. [Launch Road, Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
[iPhone 7+]
You may recognize the blueberry type pink flower of this ground hugging shrub. This is likely a species of Vaccinium but I’m not sure which.
Net-veined Willow (Salix reticulata) is a ground-hugging dwarf willow that span less than the diameter of a quarter on the tundra. [Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay]
[Sony A6500 with with Canon 50mm f1.8 lens; 1/320 sec at f4.5; ISO 100; handheld]
A pair of large willow catkins greet the start of another tundra summer.
[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens at 400 mm; 1/1250 sec at f5.6; ISO 640; handheld]
August 20, 2017
Sparky Stensaas
thesparkygroup@gmail.com
5 responses to “Churchill on Hudson Bay 2017: Tundra Wildflowers & Landscapes”
frechstartcomblog
August 20th, 2017 at 10:33
Love the details Sparky! Your naturalist instincts are very similar to my own. I love taking in everything that surrounds me. From the moss and lichen to the, flag trees, birds, whales and icebergs. I have to ask myself…what is it that attracts us to the alpine tundra and bog? Perhaps it is the wispy, fragile and fighting to survive instinctual purpose of those areas? All I know is that I love them. Thank you once again Sparky for enlightening all of us. For recording the beauty and reporting to us the magic of the area which is known as “Churchill on Hudson Bay”.
Sparky Stensaas
August 22nd, 2017 at 17:42
Thanks Carol! Very well said…I have always been more attracted to the northern landscapes and critters…Maybe it is my Norwegian and Swedish roots!
frechstartcomblog
August 22nd, 2017 at 18:22
Might be….I’m from a very old Germany, the original that bordered Denmark and Sweden all the way across the North and Baltic Seas. I had a great Grandfather that was a sailor in those seas and crossed over in the 1800’s. That might also be why I love the Tall Ships so much when they come every three years. We are planing a little trip of our own to some alpine tundra areas soon and you have inspired me to let my exploratory whims lead me. I will give you a call the next time we are on our way up to the Sax Zim Bog. I would love to get-to-gather and learn more about the area. I can only hope there is one more episode in this trip….please tell me there is! 🙂
Jim Wiinanen
August 24th, 2017 at 07:12
Hi Sparky, Rebecca and I just finished watching The Big Year. Thought of you throughout, but especially at the two scenes when Sax-Zim Bog were mentioned. Great pictures from Churchill by the way. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Jim
Sent from my iPhone
>
Sparky Stensaas
August 26th, 2017 at 19:59
Thanks Jim! Fun movie! We’ve had two of the participants in The Big Year as speakers at our Sax-Zim Bog Winter Bird Festival in the last few years…The “winner” Sandy Komito (Owen Wilson) was pretty dry, but Greg Miller (Jack Black) was awesome. WE birded around the area that week and had lots of fun. Churchill was great…Hope to get back again. I still have not seen a Polar Bear!