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"It's always dusk and dawn.
They tend to fly down in the evenings in a large flock down to the large trees in Maesteg Park to roost. In the mornings when they fly back up, they cover the roofs of the buildings here.
I call it the conference of the birds, because they tend to sit and chatter for about ten minutes, and just generally have a bit of a preen.
After five or ten minutes or so, they all seem to fly off - one at a time, two at a time, groups at a time - fly off in different directions as if "see you later" sort of thing.
Sometimes in the evening two to three thousand birds will fly down all at the same time, and in the morning the same thing on the way back up.
If they weren't crows, it would be quite spectacular wildlife observation, but people don't look at crows in quite the same way as storks or eagles.
That's what we get in the Valleys, crows. I think it's because of the coal mining valleys, because of the free chimneys they have to nest in. People haven't got coal fires anymore, they've got gas flues. The terraced houses up here are very packed, the streets are very packed together.
I like 'em because they're very intelligent birds and they're very funny to watch. It's a thing of what are they actually conveying with these sounds. They must be like words to them I suppose.
"Where are you going today?"
"Oh I'm going up Caerau."
"I'm going up so and so street."
"OK I'll do so and so street today then."
Or "You can't do so and so street, I done that. It's my turn today."
Who knows. I mean it can't be nonsense can it.
Maybe they might just be saying "How's your bad leg today?"
or "How are the feathers coming?"
Who knows - it's just a mystery. I like mysteries.
We think we know so much about it, but we know very little about it. That's what draws me to it, and to look at things and paint things.
You can look at a bird for as long as you like, but when you actually draw a bird and draw each feather, I find that I know that bird then for life."
your comments
Dave, Maesteg
I have lived in Maesteg all my life near the sport centre, before the Stack as we used call it was taken down and put up in St Michael's church. We as yougsters used to go up there and get the young crows and take them home and look after them, till they took the Stack away. My wife still feeds them and the crows.
Lucy Evans, Wolverhampton
The sound of Jackdaws is to me totally synonymous with Maesteg. When I hear their chatter, I am always taken back there to my Nana's house on Court Street. How lovely to know that it's not just me that notices these little details! So for me these funny little birds are tied up with very special memories.
Liz Bundy from Kinmel Bay, North Wales
I love all birds, especially crows and jackdaws - they have loads of character. I have a pet Galah Cockatoo which is pale grey with a bright pink breast. In Australia they are classed as pests and they are allowed to shoot them as they damage crops. So I call Rosa my pink Crow!!
