Mark Mifsud Bonnici, Kaċċaturi San Ubertu, San Pawl Tat-Tarġa
Birds and the midday heat
In his letter No Birds In The Midday Sun (August 8), Ray Azzopardi rightly states that birds find the time chosen for the FKNK press conference as being "too hot to be vigorously flying about".
Indeed this statement is correct. Birds would hide away from "the midday heat at the end of July, you will not find many birds in the countryside throughout the Mediterranean" since they would leave the open countryside to seek shelter in trees.
Buskett, apart from being the largest and only mature forested area in Malta, is also a bird sanctuary. In a country as arid as Malta and with very few wooded areas, one would expect such a setting to be a haven for breeding birds.
Even more so when taking into consideration that the trapping of songbirds has been banned for two consecutive seasons and spring hunting suspended this season.
So what explains the fact that no birds were seen sheltering from "the midday sun" in Malta's largest forested bird sanctuary?
The time of this conference was purposely chosen to demonstrate this fact. It is thanks to people like Mr Azzopardi that the point being made is confirmed and people made to realise that they were not, as he suggests "being taken for a ride" in "a deliberate attempt by the FKNK to fool the public".
As we have often stated, Malta has several limitations when compared to the breeding grounds chosen by several bird species.
Its size, dry climate and lack of forestation and water are determining factors.
This explains why only a few species of birds, that thrive in our sort of climate, regularly breed in our islands, unperturbed by hunting or trapping.
Giving people the impression that birds will eventually start finding Malta's climate ideal for breeding if illegal hunting and trapping is stopped, is false and very misleading.
With or without hunting and trapping, birds have and will always breed in those countries that offer the best conditions for their young.
Strangely enough, those countries are also the hunting areas of millions of fellow hunters, some of which hunt also in spring. The birds seem not to consider this a problem and breed there in their millions.
It is only people like Mr Azzopardi that attempt to blame hunters and trappers for the lack of breeding birds.
His statement "I don't expect millions of birds to breed in these islands in the first year of a spring hunting ban" shows who is really trying to fool the public. Is he ever expecting millions to breed here?
Popular Stories
In Discussion
20 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
Richard Cachia Zammit
Aug 10th 2008, 18:40
Sylvana, I think you missed a few comments here. Did you read what Andrew Gatt had to say? Here, I'll just copy and paste the sentence: "Name calling and insults say more about you and your narrow, biased mindset ".
Alex Ellul
Aug 10th 2008, 17:52
Sylvana Zarb Darmanin: You have to prove that that person is a liar to call him a liar, otherwise, yes, it would be an insult. Imagine someone calling you, let us say, a Nazi, which of course you aren't, wouldn't that be an insult? However we are here to comment intelligently, logically and civilly, not to hurt each other.
Regarding tradition, I do not see any tradition in using shotguns to kill birds. That is my opinion. For sure it is not a sport, because a sport is a game carried out at a level playing field, and not between an armed person and a bird that does not even know it is taking part in a game of shooting. A Pastime? Yes of course it is. Thre are many kinds of pastimes.....
Alex Ellul
Aug 10th 2008, 17:30
@Sylvana-Zarb-Darmanin: Are you trying to stop me from commenting? Is this your democratic way of doing things? Do you want to blast my right of commenting out of the blue skies by insinuating that I comment under two different names? You are totally wrong. So you had decided to ignore someone else in the past. That's your decision. I don't mind being ignored too by you, but you see, I love protecting babies, birds, animals, people and all those who need protection from others. You may wish to note that there are many more people who have more or less the same opinion as I have, as there are also people who are more or less in agreement with your thoughts. Life is like that you see and we have to accept it. We are not robots. Hence it is not conducive to our general well being to ignore other peoples' opinions. I don't and sometimes I find that I am in the wrong and I accept it and learn from the experience. So if you decide to ignore your second opponent, so be it. I accept it and I say good bye to you. Nice to have e-met you.
Sylvana Zarb Darmanin
Aug 10th 2008, 16:39
Mr. Ellul's mode of commenting reminds me perfectly of another contributor who I have expressed my decision to ignore. Are The Times in a position to ensure that certain contributors are not hiding behind another name / email address?!
As for the tribe ritual mentioned, does Mr. Ellul reason that if a person lies about someone and he, in return, is called a liar - this will be taken to be an insult?!
Richard Cachia Zammit
Aug 10th 2008, 16:04
Joseph Lia, OK you're right about only one Federation, I'm sure you know more about that than I do. And you're right about no legal trapping during those years, but I was talking about illegal activities which are still commonly practiced. Just because on paper the law says that no trapping is allowed it doesn't mean that no illegal trapping whatsoever didn't take place during those years. If finches continue to be trapped illegally there is very little chance of seeing baby linnets or chaffinches.
Alex Ellul
Aug 10th 2008, 15:53
Dear Sylvana Zarb Darmanin: If the 5 shooter shotgun is illegal, then how come, come the open season, all I hear is bum-bum-bum-bum-bum..... repeated continuously? I assure you that the repeated sound levels and tempo of the bangs are perfectly consonant with one 5-shooting shotgun being used by one hunter, and repeated by other hunters. These are facts. Every time you are cornered by anti-hunting comments you blurt out accusations of deceit, ignorance etc. This attitude proves hat you have no basis for your arguments. Next time try logic not insults please. If you read all my comments you will find that I never called anyone ignorant or deceitful or other insulting phrases. Now let me 'insult' you a bit by telling you a fact:
There's one tribe in Africa that uses the following ritual to settle a dispute between two tribe members:
The two litigants sit facing each other, the other tribe members forming a circle around them. The two litigants start their arguments, each trying to convince the other with civilised words. The first one to blurt out insults is considered as having lost the argument, while the other is declared the winner.
Sylvana Zarb Darmanin
Aug 10th 2008, 11:52
Mr. Ellul, being discriminated against as opposed to other European hunters being allowed to practice their pastime is indeed being treated INFERIOR - that is the correct line of thought.
As for your other question, I tried to ignore your ignorance two days back. That is the problem with the anti-hunting lobby: writing and commenting without being well-informed. Are you aware that the automatic 5 shooter gun mentioned by you is ILLEGAL?! Are you aware that most law-abiding hunters enjoy practising their TRADITIONAL pastime using an over-and-under shotgun?
Mr. Ellul you might trick readers who are not updated on matters, but definitely not well-informed individuals. PLEASE BASE YOUR ARGUMENTS ON FACTS!! Being deceitful might not reflect positively on the individual.
Alex Ellul
Aug 10th 2008, 08:22
@Sylvana Zarb Darmanin: What's so traditional in using an automatic 5-shooter shotgun invented just a few decades ago?
I have already asked you this question just a day or two ago, but you failed to answer. Can you answer this time please?
Alex Ellul
Aug 9th 2008, 22:53
@Sylvana Zarb Darmanin: You ask if we Maltese are inferior to other, because we are europeans too, if you should care to notice, Europeans. The fact is that should we ever abolish hunting altogether, then we will be SUPERIOR not inferior to the (other) Europeans. Please get your logic right and your political map updated.
Alex Ellul
Aug 9th 2008, 22:29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_al_Khor
Anybody cares to follow this URL and see a perfect example of birds living and nesting in an urban area?
Dear bird killers, birds do thrive in urban areas, only you have to leave them alone, or at least beat your noisy shotguns into silent unobtrusive cameras.
J. Borg
Aug 9th 2008, 21:03
Ms. Zammit Darmanin
Hunters need only REPORT to the police that their commrades are having some difficulty recognising protected birds, and/or have some difficulty to read the correct time and/or calendar.
If they know them - since they share the same "hobby" bar a mistake every now & then - they can give their particulars to the Police , who would surely come rushing to 'educate' these unfortunate hunters with a tendency to repeat the same mistakes.
Otherwise a car registration number would also assist the Police to trace the 'confused' lot.
At the end of the day, there are more hunters spread out than ALE officers, especially during the hunting 'season' i.e. all year round bar Spring.
C Mallia
Aug 9th 2008, 19:22
What a pathetic letter. As if there is anything scientific about these claims that birds would NOT breed in Malta as the FKNK says, and this only after ONE season. Such studies are carried out for years until such conclusions can be made....and that means YEARS without spring hunting. We all know what decades of spring hunting has resulted....No breeding birds.
joseph lia
Aug 9th 2008, 19:06
4 to 5 singing Short Toed Larks wheeling and diving high above their brooding mates, a male Corn Bunting jingling its rhytmic song in the midday heat, from a rustic disused RAF fence. A sudden flash of black and white caught my eye, a Wheatear pranced infront of me, 'that's odd' I said to myself, July and already the Wheatear is here...'wonder if its nesting' I murmurred.
The year July 1980, the place Halfar ex-RAF airfield, the British had been gone a year already and the place now was open (finally) to the Maltese general public. In came the hordes of Maltese picnickers, the off-roaders, the go-kart enthusiasts, dumped empty containers and in came the hunters and trappers.
With this multitude of mayhem, came the flocks of Lapwings, Larks, Yellow Wagtails, Quails, Plovers, Finches...year in year out. The hunters and trappers were there, the birds returned and some, nested, year in year out....until the morning, of 1988 the bulldozers came....and started to work.
i still remember myself and three others resisting the bulldozer driver from flattening two majestic Carobs.
The carobs are still there, next to the concrete and factory's parking lot.....the birds have vanished though.
Sylvana Zarb Darmanin
Aug 9th 2008, 18:38
Mr Sultana, I believe you have no right whatsoever to state that the majority are against hunters! I am not a hunter, yet I know how to respect others and even go as far as to defend their traditional pastime. Contrary to what you state, I know of many, many people who know what tolerance and respect toward others mean and in fact accept that hunting should continue. Furthermore, do you consider the Maltese citizens to be any inferior to the Europeans? Sorry, if you accept us to be treated inferior, I and many others DEFINITELY DO NOT! So Sir, sorry to disappoint you, but HUNTING IS HERE TO STAY!!
I just cannot understand how some contributors expect law enforcement to be carried out by the hunters themselves, We live in a civilised country where law-enforcement is expected to be carried out by responsible persons, i.e. the Police Force. Do these same contributors also expect citizens to arrest intruders into their neighbour's house, drivers booking other irresponsible drivers, etc. etc? I believe that FKNK's responsibility will only come into force by not allowing those individuals ,charged by ther Police, with law infringements from remaining members.
joseph lia
Aug 9th 2008, 17:53
@Mr.RCZ
Your reference to 'hunting federations' is mistaken, Malta has just ONE Hunting Federation, other hunters' representatives are merely 'shadow' organizations.
FKNK NEVER denied that illegalities and poaching do not exist, as these irregularities exist elsewhere (UK, Germany, Belgium...). FKNK has urged the competent authorities (ALE) for fKNK's participation, also insisting to the government to re-assess current legislations so that PROPER management can be implemented. Alas to no avail, it seems the more poaching that is reported the more the abolishionists clasp their hands with joy. FKNK is NOT the LAW, this is solely the responsibility of the police force. Poachers should be prosecuted and brought to justice, only then can FKNK proceed to take action. fKNK has always provided its invaluable help, only to fall on deaf ears....ever wondered why?
The hunters and trappers credibility was always intact dear Mr.RCZ, it is only the incessant unilateral media that tried to tarnish it. Again, Mr.RCZ, 3 years of NO legal spring trapping between 1993 and 1996 (remember those closed seasons?) saw NO baby Goldfinches, Linnets, Hawfinches, Greenfinches....etc, subsequently 2 seasons, 2007 and 2008 with NO legal spring trapping....NO fledglings or yearlings were witnessed at Buskett. NONE.
j.Lia
Richard Cachia Zammit
Aug 9th 2008, 15:09
Hunting is practised throughout all EU countries and I can’t see hunting being eradicated of all places here in Malta. There are many law abiding hunters but unfortunately there are also many irresponsible hunters as well, actually too many. Unfortunately the local hunting federations kept ignoring this problem or dilute it by saying that there are few poachers around when in fact the public in general witnessed hunting illegality all the time. This marred the credibility of local hunters. Last spring the general public constantly heard shooting, mainly early in the morning as many poachers were quite active regardless of the ban on spring shooting. So, I ask you, how can local hunters ever gain their credibility back when, people representing local hunting federations, try to win arguments by trying to give us the impression that last spring was a spring without shooting. Year after year, the constant taking of Turtle Doves, Quails and finches in our islands left them with little chance to breed and yet a few pairs try or manage to breed. If the Maltese environment is not appropriate for these species to breed they wouldn’t even attempt to breed in the first place.
Francis Buhagiar
Aug 9th 2008, 12:20
dear Fred,
I don't think you are living in a realistic world.How do you pretend that hunting and trapping will be eradicated? By telling children at school that hunters and trappers are a sort of criminals. Don't you know that those children have got relatives who practice these hobbies? The truth is that these hobbies are on the increase. You will meet a lot of children in our villages waiting to be eighteen of age so they can buy a gun and start shooting.The others are hardly interested in birds they are more concerned about video games and their computer
I do hope that these hobbies will one day stop but we need proper education about this topic and cooperation from both parties not conflicts.
J. Borg
Aug 9th 2008, 12:02
Mr. Ellul, when you refer to yourself as a ‘legal’ hunter, could you also illuminate us what effective action have you taken when witnessing protected birds hunted down?
Also as a ‘legal’ hunter, could you clarify how we can attract more birds to our islands – to watch for a short period, and possibly also enabling a few to breed – though I don’t believe that blasting lead into them would be boost any such possibility.
Can you also evaluate what proportionate area is assigned to ‘legal’ hunters in other countries, compared to what is effectively taken over locally. Really and truly it is useless to make comparisons with other countries, without assessing the disparity in the respective countryside’s surface area.
You have our best wishes to get a life yourself, BUT not to eradicate the lives of other creatures.
And just in case you’re rushing to reply….no, I do not kill/eat hens, cows, rabbits, fish, pigs, snails, dogs, cats…
Andrew Gatt
Aug 9th 2008, 11:21
Dear Fred Sultana, give it a rest, will you? Legal hunting is LEGAL and is practised widely throughout the EU and no amount of whingeing and offensive, confrontational comments like yours will change it. Name calling and insults say more about you and your narrow, biased mindset - nstead of entering into a constructive discussion you choose to insult all hunters in general.............how pathetic. You have my sympathy and encouragement in your efforts to get a life!
fred sultana
Aug 9th 2008, 10:44
dear mark, hunting FOR FUN will with time be eradicated because the majority of people will not be afraid to confront you cowboys as they unfortunately do at the moment