30th September
A quiet day, but Golden Orioles kept one team occupied and several low flying Honey-buzzards and Marsh Harriers kept the other teams on their toes. None were observed shot. An illegal wader trapper who was reported to the police and apprehended on the 15th was again reported to the ALE for active trapping. The poacher was this time arrested. Watch footage of the first incident here and read about it here.
29th September
An illegal trapping site with tape lures, wader decoys and caged Yellow Wagtails was found this morning near the airport. The police were informed and are investigating.
Migration was slow today, the first starlings were sighted and the Laferla team saw a shot Honey-buzzard with extensive wing damage close to its body. The team was surprised it could even fly at all and one can only assume it will never make it to Africa.
28th September
The Delimara team saw a trapper preparing his site. Since trapping for Turtle Dove, Quail, Golden Plover and Song Thrush is being allowed under derogation from the Birds Directive this year the team couldn’t be sure that he was operating illegally. However the site will be revisited at a later date to assess the species being targeted, as finch trapping is no longer allowed in Malta as it is banned under the Birds Directive.
In the afternoon a Lesser Spotted Eagle, a Black Stork and an Egyptian Vulture turned up… predictably the Lesser Spotted Eagle was dead before dinner, after being chased by individuals in cars and jeeps for over an hour as it flew to the south-east of the island. A hunter was apprehended by the police after a Raptor Camp team filmed him scanning the sky with a shotgun in his hand from the middle of a road in Zurrieq. He then jumped into his car and sped off, narrowly missing the team. Watch the footage here and read about the incident here.
This is the third year in a row where Lesser Spotted Eagles have been witnessed or recovered shot.
26th September
A very quiet day, with the main birds of note being a Peregrine Falcon and a Sparrowhawk. A large flock of swallows hunting for insects got very close to the team at Santa Katarina valley, giving a spectacular show.
25th September
There was a lot of migration at Girgenti, with hundreds of swallows, Yellow Wagtails and 77 Marsh Harriers. A flock of 16 Turtle Doves was recorded flying high overhead. A Montagu’s Harrier with shotgun damage to the wing was seen at Mgarr and a Marsh Harrier was filmed being shot down at Has-Saptan, the ALE were called but the poacher left before they arrived. A Honey-buzzard was filmed being shot down in Handaq. Watch the footage of the killings and read about them.
24th September
At St. Katarina shots on Honey-buzzards were heard, with at least two Honey-buzzards disappearing from view after they were shot at. A falcon was seen shot down at Dingli, the ALE were called but the investigation was inconclusive. Two Black-eared Wheatears was seen. 60 Marsh Harriers left the northern Dingli area and migrated out to sea, struggling against the strong winds.
2 poachers at Mtahleb were reported to the ALE for shooting at Lesser Kestrels. The ALE couldn’t find any evidence of the illegality.
The afternoon got great views of a Pallid Harrier up close and an Osprey. A flock of 20 Lesser Kestrels and a Lesser Spotted Eagle were seen from Buskett. A Black Stork stopped off to rest and feed at Simar Nature reserve with a large flock of Grey Herons and a Great White Egret. The bird eventually left the reserve in the late afternoon and disappeared in the area around Dwejra Lines.
Andre Raine
23rd September
Big flock of Lesser Kestrels flew in fighting against the strong wind and ended up roosting in nearby trees. 4 Great White Egrets with some Little Egrets made a pleasant addition to the days sightings.
2 Peregrine Falcons were seen hunting at Buskett and chasing kestrels. One peregrine was later shot at where it was roosting within Buskett Bird Sanctuary. The ALE were called and arrived on scene to investigate further. A Raptor Camp team was also dispatched to the area to search for the body, but nothing was found.
22nd September
68 Night Herons in 2 flocks graced our teams at Laferla Cross. 21 of the birds roosted in trees nearby, watched by two individuals in a car talking on walkie talkies. The birds left the area safely later in the morning under the watchful eyes of our team. A hunter shot at a European Hobby in Bingemma near the chapel.
21st September
The search in Mizeib continued – it was a horrible day for many of our volunteers and by the end of it all 210 dead protected birds had been found. The remains included 36 Night Herons, 40 Marsh Harriers, 18 Honey-buzzards and 87 unidentified birds of prey. Some of the bodies were from birds killed within the last few weeks, whilst others were years old. All of the bodies were found hidden under rocks, stuffed in crevices or placed in plastic bags and hidden under rubbish.
To date, the police have yet to secure the area or conduct a thorough search of the site…
As though that wasn’t enough 2 Black Storks were shot down in the evening near Buskett Bird Sanctuary. Despite a considerable police presence and road blocks the poachers got away.
Watch footage of the Mizieb finding.
20th September
After the large numbers of raptors that roosted the night before and got shot at leaving the Mizieb roost, Raptor Camp teams, together with CABS teams, walked into the Mizieb woodland to search for injured birds or other evidence of illegalities. Their findings shocked them. As they started to turn over rocks, looking for stashed protected birds as poachers are known to hide birds they don’t want tot take with them, they started to discover the remains of many birds. Three Marsh Harriers that were shot down that morning were discovered, as well as many other birds.
The ALE were called and more teams came up to the area to help with the search. The number of dead protected birds found just increased, and a press conference was called. To see footage of the find click here and to read the press release click here.
19th September
The morning shift at Girgenti got insulted time and again by drivers and passengers in passing vehicles. A Honey-buzzard got shot down at Santa Katarina valley and others were shot at. The poachers weren’t found. A low flying Honey-buzzard and a low flying Osprey safely left the islands under the watchful eyes of the teams. A Short-eared owl and a flock of over 40 Honey-buzzards were seen by the Laferla team.
The evening got interesting with Eleonora’s falcons, Black Kite and the usual offenders – Marsh Harriers, Honey-buzzards and Kestrels coming in to roost. Several birds were shot at but none of the afternoon teams saw any getting shot down.
18th September
A Squacco Heron attracted a suspicious amount of attention from several shotgun wielding individuals. Judging by the looks flung at the watching team, it is likely that the heron only left the area safely due to the strong presence of bird watchers. A charming individual waved his gun and threw a stone at the team in Zurrieq. The police showed up and spoke to the person, who apologised to the team. No charges were pressed.
The afternoon brought with it hundreds of Yellow Wagtail and large numbers of Honey-buzzards and Marsh Harriers spread over the islands. Two Ospreys also put in an appearance, much to the delight of the watching teams. The Tal-Virtu team found 3 piles of manure and a long line of intestines on the watch point.
17th September
The team at Dingli had an unpleasant morning, verbally insulted and threatened by an armed hunter. The police showed up and spoke to the hunter, after which he apologised. No charges were pressed. A Honey-buzzard flew low over another team and was shot at. The bird wasn’t killed and the incident was unfortunately not captured on film. Another Honey-buzzard was seen shot down, the ALE were called but the poacher escaped. The team at il-Qattra found that the area looked more like an area operated by organised criminals instead of people indulging in a pastime. Access was blocked with a gate and visitors were monitored and reported by watchers at watch points using radios.
In the afternoon yet another team was threatened. Montagu’s Harriers, Honey-buzzards, Squacco Herons and Grey Herons were seen to roost in the islands, amongst other species.
16th September
Morning – team had a chat with a quail hunter who disliked illegal hunters and appreciated our presence there. A shot Grey Heron was delivered to the office by a member of the public. The bird had a broken wing, injuries to the chest and a maggot infested gunshot wound to the leg.
There was lots of migration in the afternoon with many birds including Marsh Harriers, Bee-eaters and Honey-buzzards heading south to Africa. Shots were fired on protected birds after 15:00 and one Marsh Harrier was observed shot down. Since the start of camp the teams have witnessed illegalities on a daily basis and raptors shot down on a near daily basis.
15th September
In the morning a Sparrow Hawk graced the Dingli team with a visit, flying close as it headed out to sea on its way to Africa. A Honey-buzzard flying low in another location was shot at and kept on flying into a valley at which point the team lost sight of it.
The afternoon started off nicely with a family of tourists meeting the team at Laferla cross and bird watching with them for a while, enjoying views of raptors flying low over the Girgenti valley. A poacher was spotted illegally hunting in Dingli cliffs after 15:00, however he successfully evaded the police searching for him. A friendly hunter joined the Fomm ir-Rih team insisting that the government should take more steps against illegal hunting. One of the teams witnessed a Hobby being shot at 5 times in quick succession – not only is this a protected specie, but the firearm used was illegal as hunting shotguns should be capable of firing no more than 3 shots in succession.
The evening ended nicely with a Hobby putting on a real show by chasing a bat for its dinner at the hotel.
14th September
The weather was good and as is often the case when the sky is clear, migration was quite poor. A group of tourists stopped at Dingli to talk to the Raptor Camp team about the illegal hunting and trapping situation in Malta, voicing their support for action taken against illegalities. The Laferla team enjoyed great views of Bee-eaters and Marsh Harriers, flying low across Girgenti valley. One of the team members even managed to get good footage of Bee-eaters and Marsh Harriers as they flew to the Buskett roost.
The Buskett woodland is the largest raptor roost in the Maltese islands, protected as a bird sanctuary under national law and frequented by the public. While most hunters respect the status of the area, some don’t – in 2008 a Lesser Spotter Eagle was shot down in Buskett. A shot was heard from inside Buskett today and the poacher, hidden deep in woodland, could not be pin pointed.
The effectiveness of the teams as a deterrent to illegalities was proved in Mtahleb when a hunter was observed and filmed stalking a roosting Hobby, but fled the site when he noticed the Raptor Camp team’s presence. This is one of the main objectives of the camps – to act as a deterrent against illegalities, and a source of great satisfaction when birds which would be shot down, keep migratin, thanks to the presence of Raptor Camp teams.
13th September
Many of the Marsh Harriers that roosted the night before left Malta and went out to sea, only to be observed returning to Malta due to the bad weather. On their way back to the safety of Buskett the Harriers were shot at and one was shot down over Dingli. The ALE, being under resourced, couldn’t react to the team’s call. A kestrel with severe gun shot injuries was also seen looking for a roost in Buskett.
In the afternoon saw Bee-eaters once again put on a show flying around Laferla, their calls reaching the Girgenti team. Late in the afternoon two large flocks of Honey-buzzards circled high over the islands looking for a place to roost. The birds left the islands to continue on to their wintering grounds on Africa, observed by the Girgenti team along with other raptors coming in to roost. An Osprey caused some excitement, circling high over the islands. Cars constantly stopped by the Girgenti team to share in the bird watching, many of the people who stopped by were genuinely impressed by the birds they saw.
The Committee against Bird Slaughter (CABS) discovered an illegal trapper in possession of protected species. The trapper was abusive, pulling the car door open and spitting at the co-driver, the team then left the area to prevent the situation escalating into violence. This did not prevent the team from calling the police, who arrived promptly and took action against the illegal trapper.
12th September
Attendees were greeted by great weather on the first day of Raptor Camp. Starting in the afternoon, teams made their way to various observation points in the countryside to record migration and report illegal hunting and trapping incidents to the police.
Even though migration was slow several teams had the pleasure of some nice sights. A flock of bee-eaters put on a show flying around the ridge opposite the Girgenti team, while Marsh Harriers circled the Buskett/Girgenti area, descending to roost in the valley just behind the team as the evening wore on.
A beautifully coloured male Marsh Harrier made an appearance, flying right over the teams on his way to the roost. A group of children on an athletics training camp joined the team, who sharing their optics, pointed out the raptors and talked about migration with the group.