Interesting post about tracking of the 6 tagged snowy owls in PA (pertinent language in bold).

Was worried this might be OT for this listserv, but justified it, thinking some of these could come through our state.
E.g., "Amishtown" (not in article) was relocated to Lancaster for safety, and was still there yesterday.

Interesting: one owl in Rochester NY flew to the Georgian Bay, then back again. 
One tagged in Maassachusetts "flew through six states in as many days, moving mostly west."

Linda


-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Weidensaul <[log in to unmask]>
To: PABIRDS <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Fri, Mar 28, 2014 9:42 am
Subject: [PABIRDS] SNOWstorm update


  I've been reminded that, while we've been posting updates about Project 
SNOWstorm and our snowy owl research every couple of days on the project website 
(www.projectsnowstorm.org), I haven't been updating the PABIRDS community very 
well. I'm sorry for that -- this project spans eight states from Minnesota to 
Massachusetts, and riding herd on it has been time-consuming and distracting.

  I'd encourage everyone to check out the website, because this is an incredibly 
exciting time. We tagged 22 snowy owls this winter with GPS/GSM transmitters 
(made here in PA by Cellular Tracking Technologies in Somerset), including six 
in Pennsylvania. One was hit and killed by a plane in Philadelphia in January, 
but the other five owls are still being tracked, and four of them have started 
north. 

  There are interactive maps for all the owls on the website, updated every 
three days (with a three-day delay for their safety). Amishtown, a young male 
relocated from the Philadelphia airport to Lancaster County in February, is now 
on the south shore of Lake Ontario. Erie, whose transmitter was sponsored by 
PSO, has moved from Lake Erie up into the "thumb" of Michigan, while Millcreek, 
banded the same night as Erie at the Erie airport in January, remains on the 
dwindling ice on Lake Erie itself. 

  Wiconisco, a male banded at the State College airport in January, relocated to 
Perry County and tagged earlier this month in Dauphin County, has migrated north 
to western New York, while Womelsdorf, a young male tagged March 3 in Berks 
County (and whose transmitter was sponsored by DCNR), followed much the same 
route through Buffalo and out onto the ice of eastern Lake Erie.

  Other owls are doing even more amazing things. One bird tagged in the 
Rochester, NY, area just did a 571-mile trip up into Georgian Bay and all the 
way back again, while a snowy owl tagged in Massachusetts flew through six 
states in as many days, moving mostly west.

  You can sign up on the website for email alerts every time we post an update. 
The next few weeks ought to be really interesting, as these birds head back 
toward the Arctic. Don't miss the fun.

  Scott Weidensaul
  Schuylkill Haven, PA

 

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