I was born and brought up in the English countryside where birdsong was plentiful. I learned the individual songs of blackbirds, thrushes, finches and many others.

So the other day when walking near San Raflu pond I was surprised to hear a cacophony of familiar birdsong carried on the breeze wafting along the cliffs.

There not being any woods and hedgerows to hide the singing birds, and realising that the songs were repetitive, I realised to my disappointment that of birds there were none, only recordings of their voices.

Our walk continued down past the quarries to Dwejra and then back up the other side of the valley to San Lawrenz, taking a good two hours (including stops to visit the Tower and to eat a sandwich).

The walk was accompanied by birdsong most of the way, and to be honest it began to be annoying. In my opinion, birds must be incredibly stupid to be lured by such primitive attempts to attract them. Gozo is often compared to the Wild West for a range of reasons. But I wonder if the sheriffs and their deputies of the Old West were as deaf to law breakers as the Gozitan lawmen appear to be?