Conditions: overcast skies, wind NW 5MPH, temp at 32F; sunrise time 6:55AM

Out on Crow Patrol early bird edition, about an hour before sunrise time, to see if Crows stayed overnight on the ice. Upon arrival, well before sunrise time, found a small group on the ice at very north end of Dam area. So, it looks like the vast majority ended up perched overnight in the nearby trees.

The vast majority were perched in trees nearby on the east side of the Rt.28/O’Leary Bridge and were making loud vocalizations. This image below shows the view from the north end of the bridge, looking east at Crows perched in trees closest to Rt. 28. The image was captured about 50 minutes before sunrise time.

The Crows begin the morning dispersal to day time foraging grounds over the next 60 minutes with many random flight bursts. Moved to the south end of the bridge in an effort to view the Crows along the full stretch of roost trees with an old railroad trestle in the foreground and the Verizon Tower in the background. This image was captured about 42 minutes before sunrise, again with long exposure methods.

Finally, moved to the south side of the river, and on the river bank, in deep snow, southeast of the overnight roost site. This image captured about 36 minutes before sunrise time!

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Photo gear used for this outing:

Canon EOS 80D with Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS 

Canon EOS 80D with Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (Infrared)

Canon 1DX MK II with Canon EF Telephoto Zoom 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ATN BinoX 4K 4-16x Day and Night Smart HD Binoculars with photo/video

SiOnyx Aurora Pro Digital Color Night Vision Optics

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Blog post and photos by Craig Gibson, 2020 Crow Patrol, Lawrence, MA