Sparing Polar Bears
On my latest trip to Churchill in Canada, the polar bear activity picked up during my second week there. On November 1, we spotted a couple of male bears sparing as they waited for the ice on Hudson Bay to freeze. Sparing lets them develop their fighting skills and establish dominance over other bears. It’s good practice for when they will fight during mating season in the spring.
These bears would spar for a while and then take a break to rest and then spar again. We saw them sparing off and on for 4 days. It was amazing to witness and take videos of their action.
120 fps, R3 + 100-500, handheld, uncropped
Polar Bear in Snowstorm Slow-Motion Video
During my trip to Churchill in Canada this year, had the opportunity to take many slow-motion videos of the polar bears and foxes. These two male bears were resting from sparing when it started to snow. Love how the snow looks in slow motion. We didn’t see much snow, but the polar bears loved it.
120 fps, Canon R3 + 100-500, processed in Adobe Premiere Pro, 4K converted to 1080P, handheld
Churchill Polar Bear
Got home on Sunday after 2 amazing weeks in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. It was epic including several polar bear moms with 1st and 2nd year cubs, nursing cubs, bears climbing in the rocks and sparing bears. The other wildlife didn’t disappoint either, including silver/cross/red foxes with one amazing encounter with a cross-fox mating with a silver fox. Plus, to top it off was a wolverine on a frozen lake with a silver fox trying to play with it and raven telling him who was the boss.
Here is a lone polar bear walking by at 700mm (R3 + 100-500 + 1.4X) handheld, uncropped.
Tim Timmis Photography 