Millcreek, an immature male, was tagged\u00a0in Millcreek Township near the Erie, PA, International Airport on Jan. 19, 2014, along with Erie. He was one of several snowy owls in the winter of 2013-14 that spent the majority of their\u00a0time well offshore, on the frozen surface of the Great Lakes — in his case, Lake Erie — making only occasional visits to land. We assume these owls were hunting waterbirds in the ever-changing network of open-water cracks between the massive plates of wind-shifted ice covering the lakes. He was last detected in late April at the east end of Lake Erie, off the Buffalo waterfront.<\/p>\n
On Nov. 19, 2014, Millcreek checked in again, having returned to southeastern Ontario —\u00a0the first of the 2013-14 owls to return south into cell range. His backlogged data, downloaded over several transmissions, showed he spent the summer on the barrens-ground tundra in the eastern Ungava Peninsula, near Cap Hope Advance.<\/p>\n
Thanks to support from hundreds of people, we put\u00a0GPS transmitters on 22\u00a0Snowy Owls during the winter of 2013-14 to study their ecology and movements while on the wintering grounds. Our work is ongoing, but we remain funded entirely by contributions from individuals and birding groups. Your\u00a0support\u00a0will allows us\u00a0to continue this\u00a0important research on these beautiful birds.\u00a0Please donate to this project to make it a success!<\/a><\/p>\n