Birdwatchers have found a 'massive' illegal wader trapping site in Zurrieq, BirdLife said this afternoon. The discovery was made by volunteers taking part in its MaltaRaptor Camp.

It said the site covers almost 4900 sq meters. It had three pairs of nets, illegal electronic tape lures playing calls of protected species, and plastic decoys of protected bird species. An illegal trapper was filmed collecting his decoy birds and running away shortly before the police ALE arrived following BirdLife's report.

The ALE confiscated the illegal nets and also confirmed that the illegal trapper was apprehended a short while after he was identified on the basis of the footage.

"The trapper was clearly after protected birds as he had decoys of protected species as well as Golden Plover which cannot be trapped at this time of the year. The government's decision to apply a derogation allowing the trapping of four species is, as expected, being used by some trappers as a loophole to continue illegally trapping protected species" said Dr. Andre Raine, BirdLife Malta conservation manager.

Bird trapping is banned in the EU under the Birds Directive. The government this year announced that it will apply a derogation to allow trapping of Turtle Dove and Quail between 1 September and 10 October as well as Golden Plover and Song Thrush between 20th October and 10th January. Finch trapping is no longer allowed in Malta as the five year transition period to phase out this practice, agreed upon with the EU during Malta's accession, expired at the end of last year.

Another illegal wader trapping site was reported by CABS, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter, who are running a separate bird conservation camp and 29 protected waders were released at the Ghadira Nature Reserve last Saturday.

BirdLife said that since last Saturday poachers had been observed shooting at Bee-eaters, Hobbies, Kestrels, Honey-buzzards and Marsh Harriers in several locations in Malta. The illegalities recorded by Raptor Camp also included shooting out of permitted hours and shooting in protected areas where hunting is not allowed.