Conditions: mostly cloudy, wind W at 12MPH w gusts to 17MPH, temp at 52F; sunset time 4:11PM

Out on Crow Patrol for almost two hours, making quick stops at nearby staging areas and observing early build-up of incoming Crows. Lots of incoming flight action with heavy streams from NW and SW. Observed crows along railroad tracks and south edge of B&D roof top just before sunset time.

Moved to Duck Bridge just after sunset with great views both upriver and downriver, and a chance to meet fellow Crow photographers, Jackie and Nancy from NH. Major swarms of crows were seen streaming in from downriver about 20 minutes after sunset time.

Then, right on schedule minutes later, massive swarms seen rounding the west end of the New Balance building on their way into the roost, with a big buildup of perched Crows on the north edge of the New Balance roof. The image below was captured about 25 minutes after sunset time.

As dark settles in, always nice to capture images looking down the line of trees in the extended roost area, towards the uplit Casey Bridge, and observe the denser concentrations of roosting Crows farther out. This image was captured about 46 minutes after sunset time.

Finally, stopped for a moment, to observe Crows at very south end of the bridge, the inside of the roost trees, with lights from New Balance casting a very nice glow on the tree branches and the roosting Crows. The Verizon Tower, and red beacon atop the tower, is seen in the distance located on Hampshire Street. This image below, with all manual settings and longer exposure time with some wind, was captured almost 60 minutes after sunset time!  Yet, another night with dazzling action!

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Photo gear used for this outing:

Canon EOS 80D with Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS 

Canon EOS 80D with Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (Infrared)

Canon 1DX MK II with Canon EF Telephoto Zoom 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ATN BinoX 4K 4-16x Day and Night Smart HD Binoculars with photo/video

SiOnyx Aurora Pro Digital Color Night Vision Optics

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Blog post and photos by Craig Gibson, 2020 Crow Patrol, Lawrence, MA