What’s That Up in the Sky, I Mean, Tree?

If your travels put you in downtown Rochester just after nightfall, what's in this tree shouldn't be a big surprise.

I took this picture Monday night as I was leaving the Quick Country studios. Our building is located on the corner of 2nd Av. and 4th St., and there is one big tree on the property, growing near the boulevard along 4th St.

As I was walking to my SUV Monday night, I could hear quite a commotion, with the muffled sound of feathered wings flapping. I looked up to see a fairly sizeable flock of the Med City's favorite fowl-- that'd be the crows, of course-- all jostling for position in this tree. I'm not sure how many of them were roosting there, but there seemed to be a lot them, both in the tree and flying around above the parking lot.

The vast number of birds silhouetted against the grey, foggy sky made the scene seem a little creepy, and Halloween-like, despite the fact that Thanksgiving is next week. And, of course, there was also the, uh, 'evidence' of the flock's existence all over the hood of my vehicle, too.

The city of Rochester has been successfully deterring the birds from roosting downtown for a couple of years now, using such things as loud noises and lasers. The process starts up again about now each year, as the crows look for a sheltered place to roost. And it seems to be working. The city has noted complaints about the crows have been dramatically reduced. After taking this picture Monday, the birds have been absent the following nights when I've left the station. Have you noticed the crows downtown?

Interestingly, the Med City isn't the only place that's dealing with a huge influx of crows. The other Rochester, our city's namesake in New York, is dealing with the same thing. Given the success we've been having, I wonder if the two Rochesters have compared notes?