This weekend, Birdlife Malta will welcome feathered visitors and the public to the nature reserves of Għadira, limits of Mellieħa and Simar, in Xemxija, as countries around the world celebrate World Migratory Bird Day.

This year, the theme centres around the importance of networks of protected areas for the conservation of migratory bird species.

Malta is an important stopover for birds migrating in the spring

According to Birdlife’s conservation manager Nicholas Barbara, Malta’s protected natural sites are even more valuable to wildlife, especially migrating birds.

This week, visitors to Għadira Nature Reserve have been treated to rare, close-up views of a migrating Eurasian spoonbill, which made itself at home in the lagoon at the wetland for a week.

The uncommon migratory visitor to Malta was able to rest and replenish its energy reserves by feeding on fish, while volunteers helped to maintain a vigilant watch on the bird while it stayed in the reserve, carrying out overnight watches to safeguard against the possibility that the spoonbill might attract the attentions of poachers.

Malta is an important stopover for birds migrating in the spring from Africa to Europe, where they breed in the summer months before returning to Africa in the autumn. This spring, some 60 different bird species (most of them migratory) have been recorded at Għadira and Simar alone.

Both reserves are the sites of year-round scientific bird-ringing studies, which help ornithologists monitor both bird migration and the state of local breeding bird populations.

The nature reserves offer other attraction apart from birds. Anyone interested in native plants, insects and other wildlife will be greeted by carefully restored and managed indigenous habitats that support a wealth of native species, including Malta’s national tree, the Sandarac Gum Tree (Għargħar).

And there is always the possibility of catching a glimpse of one of the resident chameleons, which are found in both reserves.

Għadira Nature Reserve will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 10.30am to 4.30pm, and Is-Simar Nature Reserve, in Xemxija, is open on Sunday only, from 10.30am to 4.30pm.