Dr. Heather Hinam 🍁 🇨🇦

Oops! 😆

The sun pukes through a bank of clouds, shining sun, beams, and all directions and lighting up the snow that covers the frozen river. Four people wander among the snow, drifts and ice blocks under a patch of blue sky. Behind them is an enormous tundra buggy with a person sitting on the back deck.

Standing in the middle of the frozen Churchill river with my guests. It’s always an amazing experience to walk around among the ice hummocks.

I was very excited to see them.

A very large pile of snow left over from clearing the road. It’s almost as high as the tour bus.

Keeping the roads clear in Churchill can be a challenge. While the overall precipitation amounts aren’t enormous, the drifting is incredible. Tour bus for sale.

I just about broke my neck, jumping out of the seat so I could get closer to the window for a better look.

The railway to Churchill, Manitoba.

I figured as much. I wish they had been closer and that I had had my camera, but it was amazing just to see them.

All I can tell you is they were west of the tracks.

About 50 very blurry smudges of gray brown against the snow of the tundra on a cloudy day. Behind them is a bit of forest. Those smudges are a herd of Caribou.

This is a terrible picture of a very cool sighting. We were sitting up in the dome car on the train when I glanced out and saw a bunch of dark dots far away against the snow and realized it was a herd of barren ground caribou. Such an exciting moment! #mammals 🌿

I’m in the dome car looking out a window.

It usually takes about 48 hours. It’s never really on time but it’s reliable now. They’ve made a lot of improvements to the rail bed.

It’s a pretty circuitous route from Winnipeg to Churchill, and the train goes very slowly in many places.

Looking along the top of a passenger train pulled by two diesel engines. The track is winding through a snow covered taiga forest, and just beyond the end of it, you can see the opening of frozen Hudson Bay under the pale blue sky.

It’s been over 48 hours on a moving train, but I can see Hudson Bay. We’re almost there. Churchill bound.

Love this! Great photo!

Great photo! It’s a northern saw-whet owl :)

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and the amazing photos. I was overwhelmed by your kindness. I’m currently on the real life Polar Express heading to Churchill the long way through a good chunk of northern Manitoba. We have another 24 hours on the train left to go.

Wow!!

Thank you :)

It's a gorgeous crowned crane. They are an African species, so it must have been brought over.

Thanks, Christy!

Wow! Thank you very much :)

That's amazing! Thanks :)

Nice! I can see it, but it blends in really well.

A large grey lynx walks down a snowy road looking incredibly badass.

I'm celebrating half a century on this planet today and it's also #WorldWildlifeDay. I know there's a lot of darkness, but the world is still full of so much beauty. Let's celebrate it by sharing our favourite wildlife photos.

The last one was in the 1990s, so I don’t really know. I’m pretty sure some of it has been cleaned up over the years.

A partially-finished drawing of a raccoon looking at the camera on grey toned paper. The left side of the face is partially complete and four coloured pencils lie on the paper in the bottom right corner.

Looking for a fun spring project? Join me for a 4-session online course drawing a raccoon in coloured pencil starting April 1. I will walk you through all the steps from drawing the initial image to bringing it to life in colour. You can register at: www.mcnallyrobinson.com/classes #SciArt

I totally get it. I've been there.

I'm so very sorry, John. I know how hard this is.

Thanks for tracking down the photographer.

Awesome!