Stormy weather north of Malta has cleared and a backlog of birds on the Sicilian leg of their journey to warmer lands arrive for an overnight stay.

Hundreds of raptors swirl over the bird sanctuary trying to find shelter for the night. They have been coming in over the sea since 3 p.m. These forbidden targets are all the more tempting to those who watch and wait.

Buskett woodland has the flavour of an international avian airport as an osprey skims treetops at the end of a long, descending spiral. Next, an incoming pallid harrier excites the watchers on both sides. Only 200 breeding pairs of this rare bird are left in the whole of Europe.

Men in camouflage, armed with binoculars, twitch at the top of the road leading into Buskett woodland. Their agitation becomes tangible, trigger fingers itch, as a falcon hovers and sweeps in to land.

"They are marking where the birds come down to roost so they will be ready for them in the morning," explains Geoffrey Spiteri, campaign co-ordinator for Birdlife Malta. It is Friday evening and the apprehensive birdwatchers are expecting trouble at dawn.

It has been a hard day. Spiteri has come back from a long drive to Zurrieq to retrieve a shot honey buzzard which fell into a private garden.

"The Administrative Law Enforcement (ALE) team is very dedicated and hardworking. They do their best, but they are very under-resourced," he states flatly.

As honey buzzards, marsh harriers and kites execute their landing in the foliage to roost, the hunters quickly lose any semblance of composure. Unable to disguise mounting agitation, they writhe feverishly at the idea of laying some lead into those feathery breasts passing right over their heads.

"Boom boom" they taunt brazenly, shortly after the ALE police unit has passed by on its round. They are emboldened by their numbers. The white ALE patrol jeep darts up and down earnestly, hopelessly outnumbered.

Earlier in the month, the unit was absent due to being 'assigned other duties'. Ignoring the predicted swell in illegal hunting as the birds fly to their wintering grounds was a mistake. Shooting can be heard inside the reserve. It has been a full six years since shots were last heard at Buskett. This year, a growing number of 'untouchables' among hunters seem increasingly empowered by the ALE unit's lack of muscle.

Now that it is forbidden to shoot European birds in the spring breeding season, a hunter with his gun and dog in Miżieb is keen to satisfy his bloodlust. "This is our only chance", he remarked.

All along the road to Girgenti, twitching men fling themselves out of recklessly parked cars, eyes transfixed on the approaching birds like pointers tugging at the leash. They pick out prized species in flight and brag about how they would thrill at taking them out of the air, scornful of the odd bird-watcher flitting about.

Birdlife's raptor camp is tucked away safely across the valley. Evening sky, peppered with circling birds of prey, turns from soft grey to slate. The air is alive with autumn and the spectacle of birds driven south by the ticking of their seasonal clock.

Until last weekend, the much-awaited migration season was relatively calm with 'only' 12 shots heard over three hours at any one location. It is impossible to tell by earshot alone what hunters are shooting at in the morning, but after 3 p.m. all hunting is illegal.

Around 50 birdwatchers have come from nine different countries to see the migration spectacle in Malta.

Spanish vetinarian Silvia Villaverde is spellbound as she watches from a vantage point at La Ferla Cross. The lakes near her hometown, Albacete, attract marsh harriers but it would take a long trip south to Tarifa on the coast to see raptors as distant specks heading across the Straits of Gibraltar.

Her sense of wonder isn't shared by everyone in the area. "We know your face, we know your car - don't come back here." The ALE seem very concerned about this type of harassment from hunters. They ask around about a white land rover, thought to belong to a hunter with a two-storey hide, built stealthily out of sight from most viewpoints.

Media officer for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Graham Madge came to Malta at the start of the migration to check reports that protected birds were being shot. During his short stay, two honey buzzards were downed. Among 'tip of the iceberg' reports later in the week, a black stork was killed and shots were fired at egrets.

His last words before leaving the raptor camp to catch a plane home: "I'm angry - very angry."