Birding/ Bird watching on Malta

Wednesday 31st of March 2021 and we left my hotel a couple of minutes before 7 o'clock and my luggage was in the trunk. There are some hotspots remaining on my list and we will start with “Rabat” and it took us about 15 - 20 minutes to reach the hotspot.

It was early morning and it was beautiful with light haze over the fields.

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Rabat
Rabat early morning

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Rabat
Rabat early morning

Well, this hot spot had not much to offer and we decided to go to the next hotspot Migra l-Ferha, a few minutes away according to the map. So we drove to the Migra l-Ferha and it turned out to be a beautiful area. We had to drive down the mountain side and we could see a parking area at the bottom. Well, bottom, it is still quite high above the sea.

We started to drive down the mountain and I was surprised to discover how long it was, and how step it was. But I was even more surprised by all the bicycles coming up the mountain.

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
Beautiful church on the way to Migra l-Ferha

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
Driving down the mountain in Migra l-Ferha

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
Driving down the mountain in Migra l-Ferha

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
Driving down the mountain in Migra l-Ferha

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
Driving down the mountain in Migra l-Ferha

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
Driving down the mountain in Migra l-Ferha

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
Driving down the mountain in Migra l-Ferha

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
Driving down the mountain in Migra l-Ferha

We reach the bottom, and of course, we see a lot of Spanish Sparrows and we see the Sardinian Warbler. We standing on the gravel parking looking for the birds. We were alone when we arrived but as it is a Public holiday there were soon many cars and motorcycles.

We decided to leave when we spotted two Blue Rock Thrushes and we decided to stay, but too far away for any good pictures.

We took off trying to continue but the gravel road was in poor condition and we stopped to look for birds and then we left the area. We also have a flight time to keep track of.

Sardinian Warbler, Curruca melanocephala

Sardinian Warbler, Curruca melanocephala
Sardinian Warbler

Sardinian Warbler, Curruca melanocephala
One of the Blue Rock Thrushes

Sardinian Warbler, Curruca melanocephala
Still high above the water

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
Today's track at Migra l-Ferha

We left Migra l-Ferha and we started to drive south towards the airport. We have two more stops to make and we will start at the eBird hotspot: Il-Qaws. On the way we passed a group of houses on top of the cliff. I would for sure not sleep very well in any of these houses.

And I pointed at the houses and I reminded my Driver about what we talked about yesterday when we were on the cliffs on southern Malta.

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
I would not like to stay in this house

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
At least there is a support

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
I would not like to stay in this house

We drove past the eBird hotspot: Il-Qaws but there was nothing of interest and we continued to the last hotspot before going to the airport. So we drove to the Gianpula fields and there was a lot of Spanish Sparrows. Suddenly I asked the driver to stop and I had look at one sparrow for a second before the bird took off.

Not sure, but it looked like a Tree-sparrow. A quick glimpse and I was obviously reporting the bird as a Spanish Sparrow. Tree-sparrows are never reported here before so I did not wanted to report the bird. We spotted two more and I got a picture of one of them. Very bad picture as I was in the back seat, but good enough to ID the bird

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta - Migra l-Ferha
Eurasian Tree Sparrow

We left the birding sites behind and we drove to the airport. My flight depart at 12:40 and we arrived to the airport just after 10 o'clock. I had have a great time on Malta and I thank God that I met the taxi driver at the airport when I arrived to Malta.

Without him the whole Malta adventure would have been a disaster. Imagine me in a rented car driving around Malta on the left side of the road, would for sure not have been fun.

So I was happy with my time on Malta and I hope I have the same luck in Sweden going for the Crane Dance, Black Grouse lek and the Capercaillie Lek. This is something I look forward to and you just need to click HERE to find out if I have any luck.

Birding/ Bird watching on Malta
Time to leave Malta


eBird

eBird Trip Report

Since April 2023 eBird offer a new feature, to create Trip Reports. At least this is when I first heard of this feature and I have decided to make the eBird Trip Reports instead of my list of OBSERVED birds.

And of course, this also means that I will HAVE TO go back and do the same for my old birding adventures, WHEN I HAVE THE TIME!

Today's Trip Report: Birding on Malta - March 2021 | Click HERE

Download | PDF

Lifers
Icons for lifers used in the eBird trip reports

eBirdSpecies lifer: First time that someone observes a species in their life

eBirdPhoto lifer: First time that someone photographs a species in their life

eBirdAudio lifer: First time that someone audio records a species in their life

Exotic species
Exotic species flags differentiate locally introduced species from native species.

eBirdNaturalized: Exotic population is self-sustaining, breeding in the wild, persisting for many years, and not maintained through ongoing releases (including vagrants from Naturalized populations). These count in official eBird totals and, where applicable, have been accepted by regional bird records committee(s).

eBirdProvisional: Either: 1) member of exotic population that is breeding in the wild, self-propagating, and has persisted for multiple years, but not yet Naturalized; 2) rarity of uncertain provenance, with natural vagrancy or captive provenance both considered plausible.

When applicable, eBird generally defers to bird records committees for records formally considered to be of "uncertain provenance". Provisional species count in official eBird totals.

eBirdEscapee: Exotic species known or suspected to be escaped or released, including those that have
bred but don't yet fulfill the criteria for Provisional. Escapee exotics do not count in official eBird totals.




Vaccination

       
                  
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Flag of Skåne / Skånska flaggan Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.


                                       

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