The police are investigating reports filed by hunters that the two flamingos that disappeared from the Għadira nature reserve on Friday were spotted yesterday morning.

The birds were reportedly seen by members of St Hubert Hunters off Qawra Point at about 10am and again later in the morning near Ċirkewwa and off the north coast of Gozo.

St Hubert Hunters president Mark Mifsud Bonnici said that following media reports on the missing flamingos, the association had asked members to inform it should they have any rele-vant information.

Although the birds were not sighted at a close distance, he said that, given members’ experience in identifying birds, he was “99 per cent certain” what they had seen were the flamingos, pointing to indicators such as the manner of their flight.

We want to establish as soon as possible whether these are the same birds

When contacted, the police could not confirm the species of the sighted birds or whether there was a link with the disappearance from the Għadira nature reserve. Investigations are ongoing.

The flamingos’ absence was discovered on Saturday at about 6.30am. Signs of forced entry were found around the reserve, including trampled vegetation, foot marks leading to the raised fence and a three-metre wooden plank that could have been used to gain access.

Nature reserves manager Mark Gauci said the circumstances of the disappearance brought to mind similar incidents in the past.

In view of the stormy weather, it was unlikely that the birds had ventured out to sea of their own accord, he noted.

Mr Mifsud Bonnici called on the public to avoid tarnishing all hunters with accusations of wrongdoing, especially while the facts remained unclear.

“We now want to establish as soon as possible whether these are the same birds that went missing and if so to help trace or retrieve them or, at least, to give factual information as to what happened,” he said.