Subject: [Tweeters] River of crows
Date: Dec 20 15:12:16 2012
From: lsr at ramoslink.info - lsr at ramoslink.info


Last year, the river of crows followed a pretty direct route from the
Seattle neighborhoods, consolidating into a pretty narrow band by the time
they reached the mouth of the slough in Kenmore. They mostly followed
Bothell Way from that point until the major curve in the road just beyond
the golf course. From there, they followed the slough, then 'climbed' the
hill above the UW Bothell campus, finally reaching the wetlands. During
this trajectory, the masses of crows would stage in different areas, in
huge numbers. One major staging area encompassed the strip of businesses
around the 68th and Bothell Way intersection. Every square meter of roof
space had at least one crow; the spectacle could stop traffic, both auto
and pedestrian. When the river continued on its journey eastward, other
staging areas included the trees along the slough just east of Bothell
Landing, the hill to the south of the Bothell post office, then the lawns
near the east parking lot of the campus. Finally, as dusk arrived, the
birds began settling into the trees in the wetlands.

This year, the path of the river has meandered a bit. Now, instead of
following the arterial (for cars, that is), they cross Bothell way heading
north into Kenmore, then loop back across the slough to line the trees
along Riverside Drive in Bothell, which parallels the slough, for one of
the staging areas. The power lines are the roosting stops here, with birds
spaced evenly, about a wing's width apart, for about a half mile. From
there, the river follows mostly the same path as last year, with the last
staging area covering a large portion of the campus.

>From my office window overlooking the slough and 522, I can hear the caws
before I notice that the birds have started to arrive. That is the time to
take a little stroll to the other side of the building where I can look out
at the parking area and see literally hundreds of crows lining every tree
and post in sight. Fortunately, I leave work after dusk so the river has by
that time moved on. Unfortunately, my office will be moving to a new
location next month so I will no longer be able to watch the show. The new
location is just to the east of the campus, however, so maybe there will be
more opportunity for crow-watching.

Scott Ramos
Seattle

P.S. Last year, a made a couple of videos that are still relevant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox9X-70VgV0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6iue-c9fxc