Not the birds, but the machines that tower over the construction sites that dot the southern neighborhoods of Buzzard Point and Navy Yard in the District of Columbia, where the Potomac and Anacostia rivers meet.
They surround Audi Field, the soccer-specific stadium for D.C. United that will open this summer. Just up the road, at the ballpark where the Washington Nationals will hold their home opener Thursday afternoon, six cranes speckle the skyline where new apartment buildings are going up.
Ten baseball seasons have come and gone since Nationals Park opened in March 2008.