We do this for a couple of reasons. One, so that we can compare year over year how much wildlife we see in order to have an understanding of how populations in the north are faring, and two, so that we can share wtih our guests what they might expect to see when they join us on a Tundra Buggy excursion. Note that these are the number of sightings, not the number of individual animals.
(The only wildlife we don't track are beluga whale sightings as these tend to be quite high due to the number that come into the Churchill River each summer.)
Below is our list of top ten wildlife sightings recorded in 2014.
Top Ten Wildlife Sightings in 2014
1. Snow Buntings: 1,078*
©Alex Mueller
2. Willow Ptarmigan: 604*
3. Polar Bears: 535 (up from 268 in 2013!)
4. Snow Geese: 404
©Frontiers North Adventures
5. Canada Geese: 391
©Frontiers North Adventures
6. Sandhill Cranes: 82
7. Arctic Foxes: 27
8. Tundra Swans: 25
©Frontiers North Adventures
9. Eider Ducks: 21
©Frontiers North Adventures
10. Gyr Falcons: 18 (tie)
10. Snowy Owls: 18 (tie)
*Often these birds fly in flocks that are too large to count, so our guides and drivers give a rough estimate of numbers rather than an exact number.
Main photo: ©JP McCarthy