Dr. Heather Hinam 🍁 🇨🇦

Hi Everyone! I'm Heather. A lot of new people have joined me in the last 24 hours so I thought I'd answer some frequently-asked questions. 1. Where do you live? - I live in Manitoba, Canada in a provincial park on Lake Winnipeg. It is a wild area of the boreal forest, but not remote. 1/

Why not friend if friend-shaped? For something so dangerous, polar bears are ridiculously cute. #mammals 🌿

A magical moment on the tundra. This young polar bear decided that she wanted to come check us out. Being able to share moments like this with guests is why I love my job. #mammals

Made it to Hudson Bay. We are currently experiencing 100 km/h winds and sideways freezing rain. It’s definitely a day when the air hurts your face.

The peaceful sunset before embarking on my first of four polar bear tours over the next month.

I hid in a bush for about 15 minutes from a Hereford cow that decided she didn’t like me in her pasture checking my owl nest boxes. I don’t ever take cows for granted.

Managed to squeeze in another kayak this morning. It was too windy for the lake, but the marsh was manageable and was a lovely way to start the day, especially with this trumpeter swan flyby. #birds 🌿

Incredible morning on the lake. This might have been my last paddle of the season and it was glorious.

Bald eagle landing sequence taken from the kayak the other morning. #birds

Another sunrise from the kayak, this time with a loquacious red squirrel and a bald eagle calling from the shore.

I'm not usually one to complain about construction, but this has been a source of frustration all summer and it looks like it's going to last through the winter.

Join me online for three sessions starting Thursday Nov. 26th - Dec 10th 7-9 pm CDT for Drawing Polar Bears. I'll be fresh off of guiding 4 polar bear trips in Churchill, Manitoba and we'll use my photographs as references. #SciArt cc @gnsiart.bsky.social www.mcnallyrobinson.com/classes

Join me online for three sessions starting Thursday Nov. 26th - Dec 10th 7-9 pm CDT for Drawing Polar Bears. I'll be fresh off of guiding 4 polar bear trips in Churchill, Manitoba and we'll use my photographs as references. #SciArt cc @gnsiart.bsky.social www.mcnallyrobinson.com/classes

Finding the path of least resistance. Sometimes you have to get your feet wet. #mammals 🌿

Finding the path of least resistance. Sometimes you have to get your feet wet. #mammals 🌿

A beautiful moment on the water this morning. Most of our pelicans have headed south, but there are a few sticking around eating rough fish left by the commercial fishermen working on the lake. #birds

Back on the water this morning. It was -1°C when I launched the kayak, but once the sun cracked the horizon, it was quite lovely.

A quick comparison of the three North American bear species. All three can be found around Churchill, Manitoba. #SciArt

Figured out how to get the kayak on top of the new car. I’m stoked. Hoping the wind dies down for tomorrow morning.

The tamarack (larch) are in peak form around here right now. 🌿

Gorgeous morning for a walk in the backcountry. I hadn’t done this trail in a few years because of fallen trees blocking the way, but some of my neighbours have cleaned it up and I’m happy to explore it again.

Harvested from tiny blisters on the trunk, balsam fir resin was used in the optical industry as a glue. Made into a turpentine, it dries very hard and has a similar optical index to some glass. It was used for decades to glue lens elements and prisms and make permanent microscope slides. 🌿

Sunrise in the forest. I love this time of year. Everything is extra pretty.

A beautiful mackerel sky on this crisp fall morning. Great way to start the day.

An excellent find at one of the ponds near my house. Our moose population has been very low these past several years so finding a set of fresh tracks so close to home is exciting.

North American red foxes come in three colours. The dominant colour is the red, but there are also two other main variants - silver fox (3), which is black with 'frosted tips' and cross fox (2) which look like a cross between the other two but are named for the black cross on their back. #mammals

The one job I never really look forward to, but always has to be done this time of year is stacking firewood. With only a cord to stack, it went fairly fast this year and only took me about four hours. I’m glad I lucked into a nice day for it.

Trying to stack my firewood before it rains tomorrow, but my neighbour has opinions.

HI! I'm Jennifer L. Meyer, Ive illustrated over 25+ books, covers for various IPs, and several comics. Past Clients: Disney Hyperion, Dark Horse Comics, IDW, Macmillan, Scholastic Portfolio: www.jennifer-meyer.com Hire Me: www.shannonassociates.com/artists/jenn... #PortfolioDay

Hi #PortfolioDay! I'm Heather, a Canadian illustrator and educator. I work in many different media and much of my art ends up in interpretive panels that I create for clients all over the place. I also teach online drawing classes. #SciArt

How I'm feeling after cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 8 people last night and then doing all of the dishes this morning. #mammals 🌿

The royal family of the marsh - the largest Trumpeter swan family I've ever seen - 7 cygnets. I can remember when there were no swans in this marsh and this year we had 3 families. #birds

How do you know it’s Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. I’m making apple pie. We also have pumpkin, but my one friend doesn’t like it so I always make sure there’s an apple available.

When you're trying to relax but your family members have other ideas. #mammals

A squadron of American white pelicans in the October sunlight. There are both ring-billed and herring gulls swimming in front of them that really give you a sense of how big they are. #birds

They won't be around much longer, but I'm enjoying the pelicans as long as I can before the head south. You really feel how big they are when they fly over your kayak. #birds

I love my neighbourhood in this time of year. The poplars are so beautiful.

Hello, since Redbubble did me dirty (suspension without explanation while owing me money) let's experiment a little bit! If I've known you long enough not to abuse my work and you want a print/sticker/whatever from me, pay me what you want, I'll give you high resolution files. Try me! #Art #SciArt

Sunrise from the kayak this morning. The waves were a little stronger than I expected, but still managed a lovely paddle. The birds were after rough fish left by one of the commercial fishermen. Everything is eaten.

Looking back at last week's spectacular sunset that I got to enjoy from my kayak. It turned what was otherwise and unremarkable, mostly cloudy sky and uninteresting shoreline into something incredible.

Looking back to June. Momma bear and her three cubs. It was so lovely to be able to sit and watch them (safely from my vehicle). #mammals

One of my favourite little fall migrants - American Pipit. I love finding these little guys bobbing along the shoreline of roadsides as they stop on their way south. #birds

The marsh was full of coots yesterday. Always fun to watch them running on the water. Taken from the kayak.

Lurking in the shadows.

When your sibling has a treat and you don't - two coyotes fighting over a fish head. #mammals 🌿