Quest Update: At Home In Wesleyville
View Quest Travels June 27 – July 6 in a larger map with a legend. Zoom in or out on the map by clicking the small + & – signs. Move it around by clicking your mouse button and dragging the map in the desired direction. Click the falcon icons for more information about each location.
Quest seems happy to stay on the coast near Port Hope, due north across Lake Ontario from Lyndonville, New York (Rochester area birders will recognize Lyndonville as the place where a Northern Hawk Owl made an appearance a few years ago). She continues to roam along a 10 mile (16km) stretch of southern Ontario province from Port Granby to Port Hope, with much of her activity centered on an unused power plant in Wesleyville. A smokestack there provides an unequaled view of the surroundings and doubtless makes an excellent hunting perch for her. On July 6 she visited a residential street in Port Hope, but for the most part she continues to enjoy life on the north shore of Lake Ontario. We’d love to hear any reports from local birders about how Quest is doing, so if anyone from the Wesleyville & Port Hope areas is reading this, let us know!
July 9th, 2009 at 12:12 PM
I wonder if the hack box is still there? Is this a good place for her to have a territory, attract a mate and settle down? If the box is gone could one be put back up? I would really hate to see her get into a territorial fight over someplace else. Once is enough (Mariah).
July 9th, 2009 at 1:25 PM
Do we know if any other falcons have been attracted to this territory? Have any watchers told the CPF about it, is what I mean. If there was a hack box there, then some other falcons know (about) the area.
Because Quest is spending so much time there, it does look like it could be a good permanent residence – if the food is not something that only arrives in mid-summer after possible chicks had hatched and needed to be fed right away.
barb, if you watch peregrines long enough you will have to see or hear about many a territorial fight. That is the way it is in the falcon world. And the more successful the species recovery is, the more there will be.
July 9th, 2009 at 8:56 PM
It seems appropriate that Quest likes a place with a smokestack.
July 10th, 2009 at 2:33 PM
@barb- We don’t know if the hack box is still there. We’ll see if the Canadian Peregrine Foundation can give us any information. As to whether the Wesleyville/Port Hope area would make a good territory, that all depends on availability of food and suitable nesting habitat, as well as lack of predators and other factors. Since Quest has been spending a lot of time there, we could assume that prey is plentiful, but there’s a difference between feeding one Peregrine and feeding a family. The CPF put a hack box there, so it’s a good bet that conditions are favorable for multiple Peregrines. If the box is still there and if Quest could attract a mate next year, she might be able to make a go of it in Wesleyville.
@Alison- We do have fans who monitor the CPF website and other sources of news, but so far we haven’t heard of any falcons being attracted to the area where Quest has “settled” (at least for now).
July 11th, 2009 at 1:03 AM
I’m so glad Quest is doing well…sounds like she found a area that is suited to her.Thanks
July 12th, 2009 at 5:59 AM
Jess Thanks for the answer, hope some one from the CPF can let us know if the hack box is still there.
@Alison, yes I know about the territorial fights but that doesn’t mean I have to like them.
July 14th, 2009 at 2:37 PM
Glad she is fine. I can’t wait for some new pictures of her….
Will they be publisched here or maby with a link?
July 16th, 2009 at 2:26 PM
I am confident that if a picture of Quest were made, this board would be among the first to post it.
So far, no luck.