Each fall, the population of Crows in Cornwall swells as birds arrive from points throughout Eastern Ontario and elsewhere. There are always thousands, peaking in late November and early December. Tonight I made an attempt at estimating the current number. Because the birds tend to be very active, doing a count can be a challenge but a very conservative estimate today would be between 13,000 -15,000. The gathering point is to the east of the city, beginning along Boundary Road, close to the Tyotown Road intersection and moving somewhat further west of that intersection as the evening progresses. The birds begin to gather in late afternoon, with the peak coming at dusk. Today the Crows first congregated on the fields beside the new high school along Boundary Road. The ground was black for hundreds of yards and all of the trees were black. They are not consistent in their daily pattern so they may be a kilometre or two away from one day to the next. What made today interesting and better for counting purposes was that most of them were on the ground rather than in the air or in trees. They then headed off to the west to roosting trees for the night. Exit Hwy 401 at Boundary Road. Head south about 2 km to the traffic light. Brian Morin Ontario Birding News Cornwall