BirdLife Malta said today that significant changes in bird behaviour were noted this spring, the first-ever that the hunting season has not been opened.
"Herons are staying longer in our reserves, no longer scared away by incessant gunshots," said André Raine, BirdLife Malta's Conservation Manager.
"Flocks of Turtle Doves (Gamiema) are grouping in areas like Mizieb and then joining together to continue their migration, something we have never witnessed before.
"But perhaps the most significant fact is that for the first time ever on record, a pair of Coots (Tigiega tal-Bahar) have bred on the Maltese islands, specifically at is-Simar Nature Reserve run by BirdLife Malta," Dr. Raine said.
"Furthermore, Black-winged Stilts (Fras-servjent) have been observed preparing a nest site at Ghadira Nature Reserve. All of these incidents represent significant steps forward for bird conservation in Malta."
He was speaking during a press conference about the Spring Watch Camp, currently being held in Malta.
Andrew Morgan, one of the international volunteers said he was thrilled to see many birds unfamiliar in the UK such as Red-footed Falcons (Zumbrell), Golden Orioles (Tajra Safra), and European Bee-eaters (Qerd in-Nahal).
"Many birdwatchers throughout the world should come to Malta to revel in the spectacle of the spring and autumn bird migration," he said.
BirdLife officials said that birdwatchers were educated tourists who left behind a lot of money, but did not require a big investment on the part of the countries they visited.
Spring Watch volunteers also commented on the level of illegal hunting activity that most of the participants witnessed. Despite slow migration, the teams heard over 2,466 shots in 27 different locations over these past 12 days.
Nick Unwin recalled how he had worked on a camp in Sicily with LIPU (the BirdLife Partner in Italy).
"Back then, I thought that I would never again encounter the level of hostility that I came across in Sicily within the field of bird conservation. So I was flummoxed to see that Malta nowadays exhibits very similar tendencies to what it was like in Sicily in the past. The good news is that the situation in Sicily improved radically over the past years and this change was also very sudden. So there is definitely hope that Malta too will see a shift in mentality, something I have already started to sense through my encounters with Maltese simply out to enjoy nature to the full in a peaceful atmosphere."