Birding with Doug: A Birder's paradise
by: Doug Mcrae
Even though it was 45 years ago, I still vividly remember the moment I awoke on the train to the sight of Willow Ptarmigans – my first ever – rocketing upward in their bizarre display flight as the train passed by. I knew right then that I was in a magical place, and that Churchill would forever be nestled deep in my heart. I spent the next four summers working there monitoring the nesting activities of the rare and beautiful Ross’ Gull. Over that time my passion for the place – its habitats, birds, plants, mammals, and especially the people – only grew, and has never left me.
Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) is a plump and hardy chicken-like bird of the north and is common around Churchill. In summer, males perch on the treetops wearing a rich mahogany brown cape over their white bellies and utter a strange, loud, two-note ‘bah-gow’ call which starts slow and builds into a rapid clucking. Photo by Nicole Richardson.
So, I was thrilled to return to this incredible place last summer with Nicole Richardson – my dear friend and fellow ornithologist – to immerse ourselves in this very special place and see how it had changed over the years.
Churchill is an ecological melting pot where several extraordinary habitats and their associated plant and animal communities converge. Here, the boreal forest meets the treeless tundra and the mighty Churchill River spills into the Hudson Bay. Vast spruce forests give way to open plains intricately decorated with colourful moss, lichen and grasses, where open skies are filled with displaying shorebirds and loons and eiders swim in the pools nearby. As the ice breaks and flows out into the bay, hundreds of Arctic terns bounce along in the breeze, repeatedly splashing into the waters below in pursuit of tiny fishes.
The Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica) is a common breeding bird in Churchill, where they lay one or two eggs in a shallow scrape in the ground at the water’s edge. All of the world’s five loon species are unable to walk more than a few steps, so they spend nearly all of their time in the water where they masterfully manoeuvre beneath the surface in pursuit of fish and invertebrates. Photo by Nicole Richardson.
Churchill is also one of the most affordable sites in the world to see many remote northern tundra species in their breeding habitats at the southern reaches of their range. Several species of shorebirds are widespread throughout the continent during winter and migration, where they forage quietly in drab gray or brown plumages. On their breeding territories, however, they transform into unrecognizably fascinating creatures, adorned in dazzling colours as they dance and sing from the skies and treetops.
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) breed in wet tundra habitats around Churchill, where they engage in aerial displays and sing songs so marvellously strange one has to see and hear it to believe it! Photo by Nicole Richardson.
We are so excited to have the chance to explore this incredible place with you and share all that its birdlife has to offer on this field course at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. Throughout the week we will strive to find all of the species which call Churchill home for the summer, while also looking for migrant bird species passing through as well as lost vagrant wanderers which may turn up during the week. Both in the field and at the center we will explore the biology of each of these species – their breeding habits, migratory ecology, behaviour, and anything else you wish to learn about! We will also discuss the ornithological research which has occurred here through the past, present and future. Finally, we will examine all of this through a historical and contemporary indigenous lens, through stories and discussion. We hope you can come and share our love for this wonderful place and all of the creatures that live here!
To read on and learn more about the bird species which you might see on this trip, check out our eBird trip report from our week in 2024 here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/258339
The Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) is one of four godwit species in the world. They build incredibly cryptic nests tucked in the base of tiny shrubs or grass clusters on the wet tundra. Photo by Nicole Richardson.