Went with a friend up to the UW Bothell campus this evening, where 15,000 crows fly in every night during fall/winter from all over Seattle to all roost together for the night in the wooded wetlands near campus. It was really stunning being absolutely surrounded by so many crows all at once, it’s almost hard to convey. The tree branches were so full with them that it almost looked like the bare November branches were flush with leaves, and the air was so thick with the sound of beating wings that it at times sounded like waves breaking on the shore at the beach.
We got there shortly after dusk when the crows were mostly all arrived, but it was still incredible seeing big throngs of them swoop out of the branches, cavort as a pack, break off into smaller groups and remingle and find new perching spots. I definitely want to try getting out there again some time a little earlier so I can see them roll in before the sun goes down. It was a really incredible experience and felt almost spiritually humbling in a way being surrounded by such a throng of life, and having them mostly just pay us little mind.
