Here, or There?

Scott WeidensaulUpdates7 Comments

To stay, or go: That is the question. Stella, one of our transmittered alumni, was originally tagged four years ago, in January 2018 on Amherst Island on the northeastern edge of Lake Ontario. She was a juvenile then, having hatched the previous summer. When she migrated north that spring, she swung wide to the west, up the western shore of … Read More

Attaboy, Otter!

Scott WeidensaulUpdates1 Comment

This time of year, we can see some really dramatic changes — and that certainly has happened within the past week or so. We’ve gone from 15 owls in regular contact to just six, as most of the rest have apparently migrated out of cell range. Perhaps not surprisingly, two of the owls that wintered farthest north — Pettibone in … Read More

At Last, Sweet Success on Amherst

Scott WeidensaulUpdates5 Comments

Sometimes science happens thanks to careful planning, and sometimes opportunities unexpectedly present themselves. Our two newest tagged owls are examples of the latter — although the serendipity in question has taken longer than expected to blossom. Amherst Island, at the northeastern corner of Lake Ontario, has long been famous as a winter owl hotspot — not just for snowies, but … Read More

Let the Race Begin

Scott WeidensaulUpdates7 Comments

Arlington isn’t waiting for spring. This juvenile male is making serious tracks to the north — the first of this winter’s class of tagged owls to show more than just some late-winter wanderlust. In just the past week he’s moved more than 120 miles (200 km) from south of Eu Claire, Wisconsin, northwest into Kanabec County, Minnesota — and more … Read More

Weekly Update

Scott WeidensaulUpdates1 Comment

It’s been quite a week, with new owls in five states — but there’s lots happening with the rest of this winter’s cadre, too. Here’s a roundup of where we stand with all 24 of the snowy owls we’re currently tracking. It’s a lot of ground — geographically and metaphorically — to cover. The most intriguing movements this week were … Read More

Sinepuxent and a report from the ‘southern’ SNOWstorm

Steve HuyUpdates1 Comment

I’ll start with the big news: We’ve tagged the first owl in Maryland since Baltimore was relocated to Assateague Island nearly three years ago. More about her in a moment. It’s been a busy year in the southern range of SNOWstorm activity, in Maryland and Delaware. There are owls farther south but, here in the East, they’ve been few and … Read More

Back to Amherst

Scott WeidensaulUpdates5 Comments

Things are really happening in a whirlwind here these days, and we have a lot of news to share. Today, it’s two newly tagged owls on Amherst Island, one of the most famous owl spots in North America. (I also made an attempt to tag an owl in northeast Ohio, but came up short — that’s a story for another … Read More

Oh, Canada!

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  Due to a glitch, this update scheduled for Tuesday April 4 didn’t post — sorry for the delay, and we’ll have a further update on the latest movements of the owls in another day or so. The Project SNOWstorm team ——————— It’s definitely spring, and robins and geese aren’t the only birds making serious tracks to the north. After … Read More

Weekly Update: Loop-d-loops

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A fairly quiet report this week, although several of our birds continue to show signs of seasonal wanderlust, with several of them making looping rambles that wound up where they started. Running down the roster from east to west, Wells remains in southern Quebec along the St. Lawrence River. After spending much of last week near the town of Saint-Henri, … Read More

Getting Restless

Scott WeidensaulUpdates1 Comment

We expect to see some restlessness as the spring days get longer — even after a major snowstorm, which much of the Northeast this past week. And we saw some of that behavior this time, along with transmissions from a couple of AWOL owls. After skipping a week, Dakota came back online after some sunshine on the Canadian prairies, and … Read More