The colourful European bee-eater brings a touch of the tropics to the European continent. It breeds mostly in southern Europe, North Africa and western Asia but it has been recorded breeding further north including the UK and even southern Sweden. It spends the winter in tropical Africa, India and Sri Lanka.
This bird is a very noticeable spring and autumn migrant as it usually flies in large and noisy flocks. Several hundreds can be seen at Buskett Gardens in spring and autumn chasing insects like large swallows.
Bee-eaters were not always this common. Thirty years ago bee-eaters were a rarity. I remember an Italian birdwatcher informing me that the last bee-eater colony in Sicily had just been decimated, but as Italian hunters started to be controlled, bee-eaters slowly recolonised their former breeding areas.
In the past few years bee-eaters have also been recorded breeding in the Maltese islands and would do so in larger numbers if these beautiful birds were not continuously targeted by Maltese hunters.
The shooting of bee-eaters and other protected birds, including birds of prey which at this time of the year are migrating over the Maltese islands, continues to deprive the Maltese public from enjoying the spectacle of migration and tarnishes Malta’s reputation overseas.
Last Saturday’s emergency closure of the hunting season was a result of the killing of strictly protected birds, including storks and flamingos. The closure of the hunting season means that the only way to effectively protect birds in the Maltese islands is to stop hunters from roaming the countryside during critical times of the year.
The only way to effectively protect birds in the Maltese islands is to stop hunters from roaming the countryside during critical times of the year
This is especially important during spring when birds are returning to their breeding areas and every bird shot is a nest less.
The Valletta protest and the savage attack on a group of birdwatchers and photographers at Buskett goes to show that some people are not willing to behave civilly.
On Sunday, I was with the group of birdwatchers taking pictures of migrating birds of prey, when at least 30 individuals attacked us, throwing stones and bottles in our direction.
We had to run away as fast as we could but not everybody was fast enough. An elderly photographer was punched in the face, resulting in a fractured mandible and €11,000 worth of camera equipment were stolen from him.
A young man was hit in his leg while running for his life and my eight-year-old son saw many large stones raining all around him.
Everybody now expects the authorities to take appropriate action to ensure that these people are controlled so that migratory and breeding birds are effectively protected in the Maltese islands once and for all.
portelli.paul@gmail.com