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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Cantelo" data-source="post: 1311214" data-attributes="member: 2844">Apart from reinforcing feelings of admiration for those (Maltese and visitor alike) who struggle so hard to protect OUR birds that have the misfortune to detour via Malta, I found this a deeply depressing report.  The upsurge in illegal hunting after the raptor camps closed indicates just how important their work continues to be and how lax the authorities are in their absence.  What, if anything, can have been going through the minds of those hunters who were crawling over clifftops at night with flashlights just so that they can shoot roosting Back Storks?  Is their confidence in their manhood so feeble that they need to act like insecure children to prove just how 'macho' they are?   The brazen arrogance of those who shot the Lesser Spotted Eagle in broad daylight on a nature reserve nails the lie that apologists are want to peddle that all the offences are down to a 'small minority' who are unsupported by 'real' hunters; only a feeling of shared invulnerability to the legal process could engender such a consistently casual disregard of wildlife law that is evident in Malta.   It's long past time for the Maltese to put their house in order,John</blockquote>