The Wild Canadian Year

Fall is a time of great migrations — three-quarters of all of Canada’s bird species fly south. On the vast tidal flats of the world-famous Bay of Fundy, massive flocks of semipalmated sandpipers feast and gather strength for their epic journey south. The world’s biggest tides provide an all-you-can-eat buffet for the hungry travellers, but as the waters rise, the resting hordes become targets for swift and powerful hunters: peregrine falcons. The sandpipers rise up in swirling, ever-shifting giant flocks that confuse the falcons. But the falcons have a hunting strategy that rarely fails.

Winter weather creates severe conditions across the country, including one of Canada’s most remote and far-flung islands — a crescent-shaped sliver of land 300 kilometres off the coast of Nova Scotia: Sable Island. Here 400,000 grey seals have come ashore to give birth and mate. The tiny seal pups are born into a world of howling, gale-force winds, blowing sand, and blizzards. Living alongside them are the remarkable wild horses of Sable Island.

The 23-person team filmed 75 stories in Canada’s 13 provinces and territories. They shot over 400 hours of 4K ultra-high definition footage. MAKING THE WILD CANADIAN YEAR reveals the patience and determination that it took to capture the dramatic impact of the seasons on Canada’s wildlife.