Hoping this is not breaking the rules: Further to Steven Price's posting, I believe the thousands of crows he observed on January 14 could have been "staging" in the area described prior to settling for the night in the thick woodlot along Coronation Road, which runs parallel to Industrial and one block north in Alta Vista. Crows flock to that area from all points of the compass beginning at approximately 1500, and reach multiples of the 5000 number mentioned by dark. I've observed that the pattern undergoes a number of variations over the winter months, but this does seem to be the principal resting point at the moment after all the flocking to and from various treed areas of Alta Vista. The silence when the birds are flying to their destination is indeed remarkable. It gets broken once the birds land, but not by as many birds as one might expect. There are many different calls, and occasional crescendos when hundreds of birds simultaneously fly up, mill about and land near their original spot. There is a good deal of milling about.
Directions: Take the 417 east to Innes Road exit, head west along Innes past Saint-Laurent, when it becomes Industrial, continue along Industrial to Russell, left on Russell and right on Coronation. Stand of trees is at the far end of Coronation on the left hand side. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
