FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] [OT] "Highway of Crows" Along Maryland I-270

[SteveYoung@xxxxxxx]

Please forgive this slightly geographically off-topic post. Yesterday evening 
beginning about 4:45 PM I saw a phenomenon I had seen just once before. 
Driving south on I-270, as we passed the National Institute of Standards and 
Technlogy (NIST) in Gaithersburg I noted an aerial highway of crows flying 
southbound over and roughly parallel to the highway. Many were at what I would 
guess 
was about 150-200 feet high, with others significantly higher. The birds were 
irregularly spaced, on average about 15-20 "lanes" wide. Subgroups could be 
seen 
flying toward the main highway from the west. After about 5 miles, around 
Rockville, the line began diverging further to the east and by the point the 
road 
splits for the Beltway all I could see in the fading light was the occasional 
subgroup flying east. I can only guesstimate that there were "many thousands" 
of crows. I assume they roosted somewhere in the vicinity of northeast DC, 
perhaps near the National Arboretum. I would be interested to hear off-line if 
anyone knows of the roost site.

I saw virtually the identical phenomenon - same location, same time of day - 
about 17 years ago as I left a meeting at NIST. Cheers,

        Steve Young
        Arlington