Well, it appears everyone has flown north – we haven’t had a data transmission from one of our tagged owls since Fulgence did so on April 10 and Emblème on April 8. There’s always a chance one of them will send up a flare from some small bush outpost with cell service, but I suspect we’re finished for the season. … Read More
Packing Up and Heading North
It seems almost everyone got the same message. After months of barely moving, even Emblème and Fulgence, both youngsters who are usually the last to migrate north, lit out this past week. Perth had already shifted up to Georgian Bay, and by March 28, Atwood was following suit, so that by April 5 she was on what ice remained between … Read More
Perth on Ice
After a false start last week, when she did a there-and-back-again loop away from her winter territory, Perth started what looks like serious migration north late last week. March 20 she left the area around West Monkton, ON, flying east and then north over the next two days, eventually moving out onto what little ice remains along the southeast shore … Read More
Springtime Restlessness
The official first day of spring doesn’t come until Friday, March 20 (at 10:46 a.m., to be precise), but some of our snowy owls are already feeling its tug as the days lengthen and the sun climbs higher in the sky. Pretty much on schedule, we’re seeing some signs of restlessness, as owls that have been home-bodies start pushing outward, … Read More
Welcoming Perth, a Not-Exactly-New Owl
Perseverance pays off, and the sterling example this winter has been our Ontario colleagues, Charlotte England and Malcolm Wilson, who have spent weeks trekking all around the southwest of the province trying to trap adult snowy owls to deploy transmitters. It’s not that they couldn’t find owls; the trouble was those adults all gave the clear impression of having seen … Read More
A New (Freshly Washed) Face, and an Old Friend
We have a new transmittered owl, and the very surprising return of our oldest veteran, back south for the first time in years. The newbie first. Fulgence is a second-year (first-winter) male snowy owl, rescued from an industrial waste pool in Saint-Fulgence, Québec, about 330 km (235 miles) northeast of Montréal along the Saguenay River on Feb. 4, 2026. Except … Read More