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Quest spent the final days of 2008 in Tom Nevers, where she was a hit with a number of area birders. We received detailed descriptions of her movements from several people including noted Nantucket Birding experts Edith Andrews and Ken Blackshaw. Others have posted their sightings in the comments of the Quest update we posted on the 28th.

Here’s Edith’s account of seeing Quest on the 27th of December. She’s keeping up with Quest in her newspaper column that appears in the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror:

In spite of rain and fog Nantucket had a good Christmas Bird Count on December 27. It was warm – temperature in the 50s and the wind was moderate SW. A relief from the gale we had during the week. One hundred and thirty-four species were seen by thirty-nine participants. Last year we had 130 species with over 50 participants. The grand total of individuals is three hundred and thirty-nine thousand and seven hundred and seventy.

One of the highlights was Quest, the Peregrine Falcon from Rochester, N.Y. She was seen and photographed at Tom Nevers in the morning and in the afternoon she was seen on the west side of Miacomet Pond, perched on the house with the name of “Full House” and then flew off, came back and perched on the ridgepole of the house next door named “Sandcastle”. She sat there quite a while, shifting her feet, turned around and looked at us. The antenna protruding from her back was very obvious, her feathers looked wet and bedraggled. It is exciting to think she is staying here on Nantucket. She was raised in a box on the Kodak Tower in Rochester, N.Y. When she fledged she flew down to the ground in the midst of traffic but she flew up and back to the Tower and was fed by her wild parents before taking off in an easterly direction.

We were fortunate to receive several pictures of Quest from the 27th as well, including this one from Rob Culbert:

Her appearance in this photograph fits very well with the accounts we’ve read. She looks like she’s in good shape considering the winter weather on Nantucket. We’re grateful to Falconcam team member Carol Phillps for connecting with Edith and Ken. We also extend our sincere thanks to everyone who has reported seeing Quest. Keep those sightings coming!

Quest took the opportunity of the new year to head up the coast, where it appears that she spent the day at the beach. A strong signal from the afternoon on New Year’s Day placed her on Atlantic Street/Baxter Road, a couple hundred meters from the Sankaty Head Lighthouse, and just east of the Sankaty Head Golf Club. The following day brought her back to the north end of the Tom Nevers neighborhood. It appears that she spent the night in the woodland near 27 Norwood Street.

She definitely seems to have found a home in Tom Nevers. Presumably there is sufficient shelter and food nearby to provide some level of comfort for her. We’re looking forward to seeing how she passes the rest of the winter, and hopeful that 2009 will be an exciting year for Quest!

-Jess

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 4th, 2009 at 3:55 PM and is filed under Quest Transmitter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.