I've clocked evening flocks of crows at 25 to 30 mph just keeping up with them in the car on?straight?stretches. They move faster than you would think. ?In fact when crossing town they fly faster than I can drive having to deal with traffic lights and such so a 10 mile commute is no big deal. ?They also make stops as well. ?You can draw a crowd in a hurry with some fries at the fast food places up on the hill in their usual path. ?The urge to roost won't stop at least some from dropping in for a late snack. ?

Downtown Olympia is between two hills. ?All of them have to cross the hill on the west side to get to their tree in West Olympia. ?It seems to me that those that take off from the east hill maintain their height over town flying from one hill top to the other which saves energy. ?The downtown crows leave from sea level and fly low following the contour of the ground as they climb out. ?I first noticed this first during the morning?commute. ?The downtown birds peal off and spread out but those going further east maintain their height. ?While crows are comfortable flying across water I've also seen the downtown flocks take off and fly a direct low level route across the bay; then fly an eastward leg over land as they gain altitude to cross the hill at the point where the other birds cross rather than make a more direct but longer water crossing. ?Don't know if they all do it but I've seen it twice.?The high flyers maintain their heading and
everybody ends up flying over the west side pretty much on the same route. ? They do seem to enjoy flocking and I suspect that some of what we see is just for fun. ?
?
Ray Holden
Olympia, WA

Life is for the birds.


________________________________
From: jeff gibson <gibsondesign at msn.com>
To: tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 11:12 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Bothell Crows



In my 12/5 post about watching the commuting crows coming into Bothell, I did note that those birds were all coming in from the North as I drove North towards Everett. The last few I noted heading South were probably 5 miles North of Bothell. The large numbers that I'd seen suggested they'd been moving South for awhile.

Working at my spot West , and a tad North, of Canyon Park, I noticed a regular stream of crows coming in from the WNW more or less- sort of the direction of Edmonds, which I noted on a map tonight , is only 9 miles or so from the Bothell roost. The crow article on the UW bothell website did mention crows coming in from as far as downtown Seattle, and the Snohomish valley- both about 10 miles from ground zero. I'm thinking a crow could do an easy 10 miles an hour, so.....

I don't think it would take too much detective work to find out how far these corvids are coming from since they are mostly traveling in a fairly narrow window of evening time, and when on the move are pretty easy to spot. I'm thinking it would be a great opportunity to act out a scene from your favorite detective movie, the classic stakeout , you know wear a cool hat, smoke a lot of cigarettes, and take an occasional pull off your flask. Forget I mentioned that last part. Keep your eyes peeled for crows and watch your compass.

Moving right along, one thing I find really interesting in the movement of crows is the different modes of flight I've been noticing. When people talk about "River of Crows" is does bring to mind Fluvial Geomorphology, the study of flow and resulting landforms made by rivers and streams. Rivers come in different forms you know. With crows coming into Bothell I've noticed a broad flow of equally spaced birds, at moderate height. Then I've noticed what I might call a "braided creek" of crows- very fast moving dense 'ropes' of crows merging together at times. They look like crows shot out of a hose, usually flying low. Whats up with that? Looks like fun is all I know.

Many moon ago I lived up near the base of Sumas Mountain, about 6 miles South of the Canadian border. The farm was on the flight path of a big crow roost that was somewhere , rumor had it (this was 30+ years ago) South of the Mt.Baker Hwy about 6 or more miles south of us. Anyway, these regular commuters, were way high, up a thousand feet or so; a broad river a mile wide and an inch deep. For sure some were coming down out of the nearby Fraser Valley- maybe a 15 mile or more commute over the open farmlands. Since then I guess I've sort of had the theory that the higher they were flying, the farther they were coming in from. Maybe true, maybe not, but interesting what them crows is up to.


Jeff Gibson
Everett wa

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