Richard Barrett - Photographing Polar Bears, Churchill, Hudson Bay, Canada

I was very much looking forward to revisiting Churchill in Manitoba, Canada. Each autumn Polar Bears gather here on the shoreline of the Hudson Bay, waiting for the sea to refreeze as winter sets in. They have been onshore since the ice melted in June/July. With precious little food to find on land, the bears are desperate to get back to seal hunting on the frozen sea. The bears know that the sea tends to freeze a little earlier here than elsewhere as it is less salty due to the flows of freshwater from the nearby Churchill River.

This was a stunningly successful trip, we saw lots of bears (we tallied 102 encounters!) over the 6 days of our visit.

On 3 days we went out on the Tundra Buggies, and on the other 3 days we toured round the local road network. Both activities were very fruitful.

My thanks go to Wildlife Trails for organising and running this small group trip at short notice.

You can see my photos from the trip on my website Wild and Wonderful, and advice on taking your own wildlife photos from around the world in my new book, Wild World out now.