Updated 10.58am

Nine of the 12 swans that landed in a Marsalflorn Valley reservoir on Monday, took off this morning, only to subsequently return. 

Environmental NGO BirdLife Malta announced the swans' initial departure in a Facebook post, as it urged the public to keep their eyes peeled for the birds. 

"BirdLife Malta is monitoring the situation and appeals to the general public to contact our offices with any information in relation to their migration over the Maltese Islands," the eNGO said in its original post. 

But barely an hour later, the swans were back at the artificial reservoir they have made their home since Monday. 

"It appears that six of the swans which had earlier flown away in the direction of Xagħra have now rejoined the rest of the birds and settled once more in the water," an updated Facebook post by the NGO read.

"The other three also returned back to base after having earlier flown further down into the valley."

Swans are a rare site in Malta, and the bevy of 12 - four adults and eight juveniles - are believed to have migrated further south than normal because of cold weather in Europe.