Ohiobirders- This past Saturday (12 Jan), my wife and I decide to follow up on Laura Dornan's report of a huge Crow roost in Coshocton (DeLorme 60B4). We arrived in town around 5pm and already there was a huge gathering of Crows just south of downtown. What was amazing was how from all directions there was a constant stream of birds. We had found a spot near the Kraft plant to pull off the road and watch as the birds staged in the trees along the river and grazed in the pasture next to the road. We watched as the flock grew larger and louder, occasionally re-sorting itself with a huge cry. This went on for about a half hour, then the Crows started flying to the northeast (towards the site Laura Dornan tried counting them at.) What was most interesting about that was that the birds left for their roost from the staging site with very little calling. It's a very odd thing to experience. Around 6:00, we went to the parking lot at the roost. It was already coated with Crows, but looking back at where we had come from there was a solid cloud of Crows flying towards us. The unbelievable racket of so many birds in one place is topped only by odor they produce. It makes me think of visiting penguins at a zoo. if there was ever any wonder where the phrase 'a murder of Crows" comes from, seeing this roost in action would resolve any doubt. We watched in amazement for about half an hour, until it was too dark to see, yet the Crows were still coming in. I have posted two short videos at youtube that give a sample of what this tremendous abundance is like. I apologize for the quality of the videos. I will say in my defense that it was almost dark and there were thousands and thousands of Crows flying around (turn up the sound if you can): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWNat-X_Xek&feature=user http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5cBmL83wy4&feature=user I have seen the winter Crows in downtown Cincinnati, and while there may be more birds there, the roost(s) in Coshocton seem more condensed and more accessible, with fewer distractions in terms of noise. The same questions that arose the last time I posted about the roosts in Cincinnati still occur to me today. Where are all these birds going during the day? How far do they travel? Why here? Why the staging/roosting two-step? And most importantly to me, where else in Ohio can I see this? And can we change the name of this town to Crowshocton? August Froehlich Dublin, OH DeLorme 58 D1 ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]