From Georgina Ferry:
I am a novice birder living in St Dogmaels. In the last few weeks (partly inspired by reading Mark Cocker’s Crow Country) I have become very interested in the local population of rooks and (mostly) jackdaws. After seeing large flocks fly over the village at dawn and dusk I tracked them to where I think they roost at night, and have been treated to spectacular displays of flocking, I think numbering well over 1000 individuals, both at first light and around sunset, over the Teifi estuary near the Glanteifion jetty.
I could not claim to have made an exact count but from counts I made on representative photos I am sure the numbers are larger than most of the ‘largest counts’ (of jackdaws) that are recorded in the 2019 Bird Report. These are mixed flocks, but from the deafening calls I would say they are at least 70 per cent jackdaws.
I think they roost in the woods just inland from there, around the property called Ysgubor Wen, and possibly also around the property called Bryn y Mor on the other side of the river, but it’s usually quite dark by the time they settle, so difficult to see.
We went down again last night and it was possibly the most spectacular display yet - especially in the moonlight.
They seem to gather in trees around the village some time after 4 pm, then around the time the street lights come on they all set off towards the river. The most spectacular murmuration-type flights happen well after sunset (last night it was about 5.20 pm), and then they’ve usually all gone into the roost by about 5.45.
In the morning they do it all again, but the other way round!
Pic attached - quality not very good but you can see the numbers. The pink loops are my first attempt at beginning a count - 10 in each circle, so 170 marked so far and nowhere near the total (and of course not all of them are in the image).
