Friday, February 25, 2011

Maltese Falconry Centre

The Maltese Falconry Centre on Picasa - My Photos 


This was possibly the most exciting visit we made.  


We were overwhelmed by all there was to see and do in Malta and touring Gozo was amazing,  The bus service was efficient; the guides were knowledgeable and the people were friendly and honest.  The food was great.  The weather perfect.  This was somewhere I could go any time.


Then we decided to visit the Centre as a result of our visits to the Hawk Conservancy in Hampshire near Andover.  This centre different but it is well worth the visit.  Doreen and Rene are knowledgeable and love their birds.  They have some good specimens and treat them well.  Unlike the Hawk Conservancy they operate at a big disadvantage.  


Whereas in Hampshire the local people on the whole love birds and wish to preserve them handing in injured birds that they come across, in Malta the local people are very much against birds, despite them being a protected species.


Whenever we went on Malta we were regaled with stories of the Maltese Falcon and how the rent levied by one ruler to a tenant ~ of the entire island ~ was a pair of bird per year.  Yet the local farmers actively hunt them and shoot them whenever possible.  What a shame.


It must be heart-breaking for Doreen and her family but she carries on.  


Any assistance that can be sent her way will, I know, be appreciated.


Her site is The Maltese Falconry Centre  Why not take a look and make a donation?

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