A BirdLife Malta surveillance team on Wednesday watched a driver in a van in Mgarr stop his vehicle and start shooting at a flock of protected birds of prey (tajr tal-priża) through his vehicle’s window, the latest in a series of illegal shooting incidents as spring migration started, BirdLife Malta said.

The flock of seven lesser kestrels (spanjulett sekond) flew off and a female dropped into a wheat field after briefly fluttering away from her perch. The team filmed the hunter driving off and immediately contacted the ALE and the video footage will be passed on to the police.

In the last few days, as birds of prey started arriving, BirdLife Malta said, it was given four protected birds of prey with gunshot injuries as reports of illegal hunting increased. All birds were taken to a veterinary and reported to the Office of the Prime Minister, ALE and MEPA. Due to the severity of their injuries, two shot protected birds of prey had to be euthanised by the vet while a marsh harrier and a lesser kestrel have been passed onto the authorities to be rehabilitated.

The latest illegal hunting incidents, BirdLife said, occur as around 120,000 people signed BirdLife’s international petition calling on the Prime Minister to take strong action against the illegal killing of protected species and refrain from opening another spring hunting season to give wild birds a chance to breed.

“However, as expected the OPM and the hunting lobby will once again unite in their denial of the seriousness of illegal killing during another migration. The situation in Malta has become like a clichéd horror movie with endless sequels to it,” Andre Raine, BirdLife Malta Conservation Manager said.