I frequently see what seems to be millions of cawing crows at dawn and dusk flying through the sky, and I always wonder what their story is. Where do they all roost at night? Today I learned the answer.
I got down to the river trail for my morning run about 5:30 a.m. I get on the trail right by Heinz Lofts. I usually go right, toward the stadiums, but today I went left because I wanted to run on the 31st Street Bridge. Shortly after I started running, I heard rustling in the trees between the trail and river. I thought maybe a plastic bag was stuck in the branches, so I looked up. I had my headlamp on, which revealed those millions of crows I've seen flying around roosting in the trees. I guess they weren't happy with my light shining on them, so they started to get restless and started cawing. They were roosting in about 15 or so trees along the trail, and each group of birds started cawing as I ran past. To see swarms of big, dark creatures in the trees above me was unsettling, and as they stirred and cawed as I ran past, I thought of Hitchcock's The Birds.
I ran past unscathed but, even with my headlamp, was a little scared because it was so dark on that part of the trail and I was the only one out.
When I got to the end of the 31st Street Bridge, I looked down and saw the city's fleet of garbage and recycling trucks, all with their lights and engines on, ready to start the day's work. Seeing them all lined up and idling reminded me of all the crows in the trees, each about to start their day. I know: Deep thoughts on a morning run, ha ha.
This was another run that made me grateful I'm a morning person and a runner. If I weren't, I wouldn't have been outside to solve the mystery of where all the crows roost at night and the comparison between the crows and the garbage trucks. Good stuff!
