The competition between the 75 participating schools has intensified. So far, nine schools have gained over 1,000 points, entitling them to the Gold Award.

By the end of the scholastic year, many schools will have earned sufficient points to warrant an award. Notwithstanding this, they will still be carrying out other activities based on the action guide that they have found useful in creating environmental awareness.

One of the activities, “Out of Africa”, has taught children about the migration of birds from Africa to Europe, the perils that the birds face during migration and how important it is for them to find a resting place, such as at the bird reserves in Ghadira and Xemxija.

The spectacle of birds appearing suddenly after months of absence has intrigued man for hundreds of years. Many myths were created to try and explain where birds went in the winter. Swallows were thought to spend the cold months at the bottom of a lake, sheltering from rough weather until they resurfaced in spring. Other stories spoke of birds travelling to the moon.

Today we know much more about migration – swallows spend the winter in Africa, where the weather is kinder and the days longer than in Europe. It is indeed amazing how a small bird like the swallow can travel up to 8,000 kilometres to its preferred wintering place and back to its breeding ground in spring.

In one of the activities, schoolchildren make cardboard cut-outs of swallows and hang them on a piece of string in the classroom, just as swallows perch while resting on their migration route through our islands. Part of the exercise is also to become aware of the various perils that birds encounter on their migration route back to Europe where they are going to breed.

This scholastic year, over 3,000 schoolchildren have visited the bird reserves.

Dinja Wahda has also enrolled 350 new members in BirdLife Malta’s Klabb Huttaf. In this junior club, children receive a bi-monthly magazine featuring articles about birds, club activities and environmental issues.

A visit to the nature reserve at Ghadira is bound to fascinate any member of the Maltese public, as this is one of the few places in Malta where birds are undisturbed, allowing closer views.

For more information about BirdLife Malta and its activities visit www.birdlifemalta.org