It feels like winter, but spring can’t be far away. Great tits have been singing for weeks – even through the big freeze - and I’m hearing thrushes singing more and more often. In just six weeks time I’ll be looking out for the first wheatears, sand martins and listening for chiffchaffs. I will expect to have seen a swallow before the end of March and then April brings a torrent of migrant birds – the warblers, martins, swifts, cuckoos, nightingales, yellow wagtails etc etc
Spring migration is a big rush – the urge to set up a territory, find a mate and get on with producing the next generation is overwhelming. And millions of birds head back to Europe from their wintering grounds in Africa to join us in our gardens, woods and farmland – and our nature reserves.
Those returning migrant birds have always faced problems on their amazing journeys. Imagine a swallow coming back from South Africa (to avoid the World Cup?) battling across the Sahara, looking for food and drink along the way, avoiding predators of all shapes and sizes across many countries and needing to cope with strong winds, rain and heat along the marathon journey. Bird migration is an awesome twice-yearly process and spectacle.
We’ve added to the difficulty of the journey – habitat destruction and degradation, climate change affecting food supplies, pollution, traffic, disturbance all add to the threats and challenges.
But, totally unacceptably, in too many countries, particularly in southern Europe, so-called hunters are shooting birds out of the skies. This spring killing is not condoned or supported by respectable hunting organisations. There are good reasons why most legitimate sports shooting takes place in autumn – it’s hardly sporting, and often unsustainable, to kill birds as they head into the breeding season.
Our BirdLife International partner in Malta – BirdLife Malta – is a great little organisation. Malta acts as a magnet to migrating birds and the sad thing is that many species are killed (I won’t call it hunting) there, including in spring and including many protected species.
Malta became a part of the European Union a few years ago and signed up to the Birds Directive which regulates hunting. It is simply unacceptable for Malta to get the benefits of EU membership and not enforce environmental legislation.
The RSPB and other BirdLife International partners are working closely with our Maltese partner to persuade the Maltese government to end illegal killing of birds on Malta. Please sign the petition to demonstrate to the Maltese government that there is international pressure to end this illegal activity.
I hope that the spring slaughter of birds will soon be brought to an end, in all honesty I don't think Malta should have even been accepted into the EU until they had shown that they were willing to comply with what they were signing up to - by stopping spring hunting BEFORE they were accepted. Now they have all the benefits despite breaking the Birds Directive and continuing as they did before!
Well that is brilliant Kat we agree absolutely and really good direct comment,as usual no fence sitting from you.Just have to agree with everything you say.
Its absolutely disgusting-
To see your first tiny willow warbler of the season is just awesome - trying to imagine the trials and tribulations it goes through to arrive here safely to breed its just astonishing.
A few years ago I had the privilege of being shown around the reserves on Malta by Joe Mangion. The members of Birdlife Malta deserve our backing. I sat down with a young man (18) seawatching with the usual 'what's about' only to find he was actually there monitoring the hunters after seabirds from boats.
Unfortuantely I also saw the bird market at Valetta and the field covered in traps.
This is not a 3rd world country and any pressure that can be brought to bear is worth it. I have already signed Birdlife Malta's own petition so I presume I am discounted from signing this one but you know it has my full support.