Buried deep inside of Discovery Park is none other than a sewer treatment plant. This large park has trails that skirt the perimeter of the plant. The dense brush and trees along the tall cement fence disguise its presence. That is except the occasional whiff of sewer.

I traveled the North Beach Trail which is sandwiched between the plant, the beach and a lagoon enjoying the winter day. First I found a flock of ducks bathing in the lagoon.  Not too far from them I stopped to try to catch a glimpse of a wren or chickadee I heard calling. I did not see the small bird but did see a family of crows perched in trees on the rim of the plant. Serendipity lead me to my black friends. I would have just kept on down the trail and never seen them.

To  help you see them here is a little closer view. They have moved around  but now you can see them better.

One of the small trees that is bare of leaves is a perfect place to watch the world. Plus I bet this is the leader of the pack.

As is common this time of year there are mates hanging out close to each other.

As luck would have it I got a lift off shot. Yes this is luck cause one cannot click the shutter fast enough if you see them in flight like this. I was just taking a bunch of photos in sequence knowing I would get something good.  That is bird photography.

The trail was busy and several folks stopped to ask me what I was seeing. I get a mixed reaction when I talk about the Black ones. Never fails that their legend of evil has outweighed their true nature of smart and family orientation. This little murder of about 10 crows have it made is what I told one couple. They have food from the workers at the plant, the park traffic and natures bounty in the forest and shoreline.

As I left I gave them a peanut treat. Never hurts to make sure they know I am one of the good humans. Then off I went to find my way back up the bluff to the parking lot. As I headed down the trail I spotted a guard in a tree. That is right, they always have guards on duty to make sure the core flock is safe from intruders or the goodness of dropped food on the trail.

On my journey back I came across an overlook of the Treatment Plant. Right away I saw a crow on the wall.  Here is a photo of the bigger view there. This actually faces back towards the lagoon and where I had found the main body of the murder.

He proceeded to fly down to a small tree between the two fir trees, kind of behind the blue guard shack. Never know where a meal might have been discarded or lost by some poor human!

Something caught my eye in the distance and I was curious if I could see the main murder in the distance. There they were!! If you look carefully in the photo above just to the right of the cement tank you can see them in the trees.

First I want to share a zoomed photo of my suspected leader of the pack on a tall tree.

Then I saw a pair up in a tree over there on the west boundary near the North Beach Trail. They jumped down on the wall of the Plant. I was quick enough to get them in the tree but not for their landing on the fence. Next they drifted down into the plant out of sight.

The sewer treatment plant has lots of man-made things for crows to perch and observe us from. Nothing like the silent black fellows hanging out mysteriously.

The pair on the rail flew off and left the designated guard in a nearby tree to keep an eye on things. Hope you enjoyed the doings of the West Point Treatment Plant Crow Murder.