Birding in Malta.......... if you're lucky by Gary Atkins

I thought my pathetic total of around 25 species in a week was perhaps unusual - or down to my poor bird-watching skills (which still might have been a factor!) - but when I spoke to four other 'Brits' who'd spent almost a month in Malta and only totalled 39, I began to realise that it wasn't just me.

Malta has, like some other areas in the Mediterranean, a bad reputation for hunting and shooting birds - anything that moves, it's said, at certain times of the year - so this is without doubt a major factor. 

Astonishingly, while up to 350 species might be logged in a year, the huge majority are migrating birds just passing through - and just 21 species breed on the island (or, strictly, islands plural as Malta comprises the smaller islands of Gozo and Comino).  That speaks volumes. 

Exciting species like Peregrine used to breed there, as did Jackdaws ... but no longer. It was refreshing, though, to note that two wetland areas are closed to the general public during the week - but open to parties of schoolchildren who are, hopefully, soaking up the pleasures of nature and may help attitudes of future generations to change, and reduce the volume of shooting over time. 

We can but hope. 

And now Malta's in the EU, there is an effort being made by its government to limit the species of birds targeted during hunts ... I imagine tradition will win out and those 'rules' will be overlooked, but it's worth a try! 

Anyway, if I'd travelled in March or April, or between September and November, I'd probably have managed a much healthier total. 

Whatever, just getting out and watching birds is fun, and even among by mid-twenties total there were some highlights - like Blue Rock Thrush on ridges towards the north of the main island, and Black-necked Grebe on one of the aforementioned wetland areas. 

And guess what -

Sardinian Warblers were in abundance! Even so, and if I'd seen several dozen species during the main spring migration, I still don't think Malta would become a prime bird-watching location for me because it never felt very comfortable and because of a general lack of variety of habitat. 

The highest point is only about 230 metres, and open spaces are at a real premium as villages and towns virtually merge (though Gozo has some a few stretches of quiet greensward) in what is, surprisingly, the fourth most densely populated republic in the world! Malta does, though, have a fair bit going for it as a holiday location: it has a lot of history, and a rich variety of cultures and cuisine (and some fantastic old cars like the Ford Anglia and Cortina Mk1s, Sunbeam Vogues and Vauxhall Veloxes - presumably kept roadworthy by the relatively dry and warm climate ... though it was not particularly so while we were there!), and in some areas the nightlife buzzes.

If you are planning to go, it's worth visiting the Birdlife Malta website for latest info ( http://www.birdlifemalta.org ). 

It's refreshingly honest about the specific problems of shooting, as well as pointing out latest sightings and describing where to watch birds.  

Gary Atkins