Hi Diann,

I work in Bothell on the S side of the slough and walk the trail to my
bus most days around dusk. The crows have been using the tall trees
lining the slough as their staging area for about 5 or 6 weeks now. Last
year, they were further west in Kenmore. Your estimate in the several
thousands is pretty accurate. The river of crows coming from the west
into this area can number in the low thousands as they add to those
already roosting/staging. Each staging tree holds 30-50 crows, though
they stay only in the tallest. Walking underneath this great, loud
gathering is the only time I cannot hear the traffic on the highway!

Scott Ramos
Seattle


On 2/21/10 12:42 PM, Diann MacRae wrote:
> Hi, Tweets
>
> Many of you have seen the early evening flights of crows to their
> various roosts in the area, but last night Bill and I had our greatest
> show ever. We went over to the UW-Bothell campus around 5pm. Not a
> crow in sight. A bit to the south there started appearing a few groups
> flying west to east (towards Woodinville). Small groups would fly over
> the campus, but starting at about 5:45, large groups began passing
> over. We went up on the top floor of the parking garage which is just
> across the street from Cascadia College and these flights began flying
> just over our heads. With a crescent moon (it'll be quarter phase
> tonight) high above it was fantastic to watch thousands of crows
> flying directly above us. I don't exaggerate. They were coming from
> downtown Bothell (perhaps a staging area near the Safeway) directly
> over us on a line to Woodinville or slightly north.
>
> As it got darker, the crow flight was lower. They were muttering and a
> bit of cawing, but essentially just heading to their roost. Our
> estimate was around 8,000 (or more) - just an estimate. It was really
> a sight to see and a great place to watch from. The flight went on
> until approximately 6:18pm.
>
> Cheers, Diann
>
> Diann MacRae
> Olympic Vulture Study
> 22622 - 53rd Avenue S.E.
> Bothell, WA 98021
> tvulture at vei.net
>
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