Winter Crow Roost: to the Casey Bridge!

Conditions: overcast skies, wind W at 13MPH, gusts to 20MPH, temp at 47F; sunset time 4:20PM

Out on Crow Patrol with first stop at the Incinerator Road ball field area watching Crows streaming towards roost at low elevations from the nearby municipal airport and the wooded area beyond, all located downriver from the overnight roost area. This image was captured about ten minutes before sunset time.

Next stop was atop the McGovern parking garage with a small numbers of Crows gathering at the west end of the B&D complex rooftop. After a quick look from the garage roof deck, moved down to South Canal Street minutes after sunset time and watched swarms of Crows streaming in from SE direction. At times, these flight streams seem to go on and on, as more Crows keep popping up and streaming in!

Next stop was out onto the nearby Duck Bridge, looking WSW and upriver, to watch the Crows converging in flight into the overnight roost. Again the flight stream at times is overwhelming with huge non-stop numbers of Crows rounding the corner in flight and heading towards the roost trees. This image was captured about 21 minutes after sunset time with lighting conditions falling off sharply.

Then a look farther down the line of trees well past the end of the New Balance building with night vision optics. This view shows the additional numbers of Crows that make up the whole roost. We now have optics that allow us to see that the roost extends most night all the way over to the Casey Bridge. This image was captured about 33 minutes after sunset time.

This view shows the full extent of the overall roost area on the north side of the New Balance building, and farther down, past the back of the National Grid facility, and towards the Casey Bridge. On some nights, the thickest concentrations are in the trees at the far end of the New balance building and on many night wellpast there.

The final stop for the night was to the north side of the Merrimack River, and to the park adjacent to the Mill240 building. Was hoping to get a better look at the Crows perched in the trees behind the National Grid facility. This area is very dark with little direct ambient lighting. The only way to make any observations is by using night vision optics along with an infrared illuminator. It is always a sight to see the reflection of the infrared light in the eyes of the Crows. Quite a night!

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

Winter Crow Roost: to the Casey Bridge!

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