Counting to Thirteen

Crows flying over Soldiers and Sailors Hall, 24 Oct 2020. 13 in the circle (photo by Kate St. John)

9 November 2020

For the past three months I’ve been trying to count Pittsburgh’s crows but it’s incredibly hard to do. Last night I tried again as they flew from a staging area in Shadyside to a roost somewhere west of Bellefield Avenue. After 20 minutes I suddenly realized I’d missed a steady stream flying in from the Allegheny Valley. How many thousands had I missed? Aaarrg!

My sister-in-law suggested I use photos to count them so here are four photos with 13 crows circled in each one.

Crows roosting near Heinz Chapel, 1 Dec 2017. 13 in the circle (photo by Kate St. John)
Crows flying past Chevron Hall, 24 Oct 2020. 13 in the circle (photo by Kate St. John)
Crows flying at sunset over Wilkins Ave. 13 in the circle (photo by Joanne Tyzenhouse)

Why 13?

Today is Outside My Window‘s 13th anniversary. Since my first blog post on 9 November 2007 I’ve written nearly 5,000 articles, uploaded more than 10,600 photos, and moderated more than 20,000 comments.

In its 13th year the blog has …

Thanks to all of you, my readers, who have kept me blogging about birds, nature and peregrine falcons.  Your enthusiasm keeps me going. And a big thank you to all the great photographers who let me use their photos.  See who they are here.

Woo Hoo!  Happy 13th!

p.s. This is my blog’s birthday (my own is in May). And on the subject of birthdays, this Friday the 13th is King Friday the XII’s birthday. Happy 13th!

(sunset photo by Joanne Tyzenhouse, remaining photos by Kate St. John)

16 thoughts on “Counting to Thirteen

    1. King Friday has a birthday on *every* Friday The Thirteenth. When I worked at WQED the MisterRogers neighborhood would have a birthday cake for him. Some years we had several!

  1. Thank you Kate! I look forward to your next thirteen years of blogging. Your posts are always refreshing and educational. You keep us in touch with all the natural happenings in our hometown.

  2. Happy Birthday to Birds Outside My Window! You cover many topics and use spot on photos and give credit to the sources for them. Please keep posting for many, many more years as you have many devoted readers.

  3. Congratulations, Kate, on 13th years, with many more to come. Such a pleasure to start each morning by checking in on your blog to see what wonderful info you have to share with us, a big thank you!

  4. Congratulations! Your blog is incredible and I am in awe of how you manage to post such good stuff on a daily basis.

    Also, thanks for the crow update!! I saw the video of crows heading to their roost on your YouTube channel. It’s something else.

  5. I wish you a most Happy Anniversary, and thank you for showing up every morning to teach me something new. I have truly enjoyed this journey, and look forward to at LEAST another 13 years!! <3

  6. Happy Anniversary Kate! Sounds like there’s many of us that start our day with you. I appreciate all the time and energy you put into your blog, thank you!! I’m sure there are many days you don’t have the time or feel like it but I enjoy it immensely. I always learn something about our wonderful, beautiful, at times whacky, natural world. 🙂

  7. Thank you , Kate, your blog is a daily delight!
    Last evening around 5:30 for at least 10 minutes there was a steady stream of crows flying over Beeler Street towards CMU. I approximate I saw at least 2000 during that time from my place on Beelermont. There may have been more before I started watching. Keep up the good work!

  8. Congrats on your 13th anniversary. Your love of nature is a blessing to your readers.
    Thanks for your dedication to your blog and for always presenting something interesting every day. My day wouldn’t be complete without reading it. Wishing you many more happy years of blogging. Cheers!

  9. Congratulations Kate. You have a fan and dedicated reader far away. I am a Pittsburgh native who lives in San Francisco and enjoys reading about the natural history and birds of Western PA. One of these days when I can travel home again I will join one of your walks.

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