Jan. 7, 2026 under overcast skies, calm wind conditions, temp 33F, and sunset time at 4:27PM

The Crow Patrol unfolded primarily along South Canal Street, with endless incoming flight streams and boisterous vocalizations signaling a roost that continues to consolidate and expand westward along the Merrimack River. This first aerial image, captured in the Fulgurite thermal palette, shows arriving crows covering the roof of a small red brick building within the National Grid substation. The spacing across the rooftop is relatively uniform, but densities increase noticeably along the roof edges. Behind the building, many more crows are already settling into the treetops along the Merrimack River, clearly signaling the transition from staging to overnight roosting.

This next image offers a striking aerial view looking down the line of riverside trees, where crows are densely packed along more than 200 yards of shoreline. This perspective highlights how the roost stretches westward, with birds filling trees continuously rather than in isolated clusters, an impressive visual of scale and organization within the main roost.

Switching to the Black Hot thermal palette, the third aerial image reveals both the length and width of the roost with exceptional clarity. The dense concentrations of warm bodies stand out against the cooler surroundings, offering valuable insight into how tightly the Crows are packed and how the roost is structured across multiple rows of trees.

The final image was captured from the east side of the Route 495 bridge using a mirrorless camera and an extreme low-light lens. Here, smaller numbers of Crows occupy a secondary roost location, noticeably reduced compared to earlier in the season. This decline supports the ongoing pattern of consolidation back toward the main roost along South Canal Street. Another extraordinary outing, with a special emphasis on watching crows converge, settle, and finally grow quiet for the night.

For the 2025 National Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for the Andover Circle (MAAN), the dedicated crow roost count totaled 14,025 crows, including both American Crows and Fish Crows. By comparison, the Andover Circle crow count was 12,550 in 2024 and 11,600 in 2023. Many thanks to Mark Morroni and Donna Cooper, who coordinated and compiled the Andover Circle CBC this year. Craig serves as the designated sector leader for the Lawrence winter crow roost count.

The counting methods developed by the Crow Patrol for the Lawrence roost were formally reviewed and approved in January 2021 following a detailed evaluation of field notes, images, and group discussion with Wayne Petersen, New England Regional Editor for the CBC, with full support from Geoff LeBaron, National Director of the CBC, and Donna Cooper as local compiler. After this comprehensive review, the 2020 CBC American Crow count was finalized at 15,200, a figure fully supported by field documentation and consistent with long-term observations by experienced local birders.

Building on guidance from the National CBC leadership, we now use enhanced, field-based counting methods tailored to large winter crow roosts. These include multiple direct block counts of birds in flight, during staging, and once perched, conducted entirely on foot around the roost. Counts are later cross-checked using still images and video, supported by modified open-source counting software. This multi-layered approach significantly improves accuracy and repeatability. A detailed overview of these methods is available in the Winter Crow Roost Counting Guide (PDF) on the main page.

All images are captured using professional low-light mirrorless camera systems and fast-aperture lenses, allowing for reliable documentation under the very challenging lighting conditions at dusk and after dark typical of winter crow roosts.