BirdLife Malta, since the late 1990s, has organised a camp during the annual autumn raptor migration period. Both local and international volunteers join this camp to curtail illegal hunting activity and collect data on bird migration, in particular raptors.

The camp consists of illegal hunting surveillance and raptor migration monitoring. These are carried out every day during the morning and afternoon. As well as monitoring raptor migration, participants will also record migration of a range of other species, including herons, bee-eaters, orioles, thrushes and doves. When not working on the main Raptor Camp objectives, participants are free to choose from a variety of planned and non-planned activities. These include both birding-related activities and other leisure activities such as cultural visits to historic sites, trips to the other islands, swimming and other social activities.

In the evening work shops, discussions and films will be organized for the participants. Groups of volunteers numbering between 5 and 10 people will be dispatched to areas of Malta which are known for illegal hunting activities and raptor migration. The volunteers will be given tasks relating to either illegal hunting surveillance or raptor migration monitoring.

Volunteers will look out for hunters and watch for illegal hunting activities. Illegal activities will be immediately communicated to base camp and the police will be informed. Volunteers will effectively be working as ‘look-out posts’ to inform police of illegal hunting activities and their whereabouts, as well as trying to gather evidence through cameras and video cameras. At times, in the absence of police, volunteers’ presence is used to curtail illegal hunting activities through a cautionary approach.

Volunteers will look out for raptors, identify the species and record basic data. The most common migrants at this time of year are Marsh Harrier, Honey Buzzard, European Hobby and Common Kestrel, while other migrants include Osprey, Montagu’s Harrier, Eleonora’s Falcon and Lesser Kestrel. Other, rarer, species, including Pallid Harrier, Short-toed and Lesser Spotted Eagles are recorded annually. Data recorded includes species, age and sex (where possible), location, time of sighting, and information about illegal hunting activities such as number of shots heard and whether or not the raptors were targeted.

Volunteers may come for any number of days during this period. Most volunteers spend either one or two weeks depending on their availability and the flight schedule.

More information on Raptor Camp Malta can be found on www.birdlifemalta.org or by sending an email to raptorcamp@birdlifemalta.org