Erie, then an immature male, was tagged in near the Erie, PA, International Airport on Jan. 19, 2014, along with Millcreek. He was one of several snowy owls in the winter of 2013-14 that spent the majority of their time well offshore, on the frozen surface of the Great Lakes — in his case, Lake Erie — making only occasional visits to land. Erie summered in 2014 along the southern edge of Hudson Bay, and spent the winter of 2014-15 largely on and around southern Lake Huron. In February 2016 he checked in from southern Ontario, but his transmitter malfunctioned, and attempts to trap him and remove it failed.
Project SNOWstorm would like to thank the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology for generously sponsoring the transmitter worn by Erie. Our work is ongoing, but we remain funded entirely by contributions from individuals and birding groups. Please consider a donation to Project SNOWstorm to make it a success.