The world is a mask that hides the real world.
Thatâs what everybody suspects, though the world we see wonât let us dwell on it long.
The world has ways - more masks - of getting our attention.
The suspicion sneaks in now and again, between the cracks of everyday existenceâ¦the bird song dips, rises, dips, trails off into blue sky silence before the note that would reveal the shape of a melody that, somehow, would tie everything together, on the verge of unmasking the hidden armature that frames this sky, this tree, this bird, this quivering green leaf, jewels in a crown.â¦
As the song dies, the secret withdraws.
The tree is a mask.
The sky is a mask.
The quivering green leaf is a mask.
The song is a mask.
The singing bird is a mask.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
missing Maltese falcons
One of the missing peregrines [photo: Natalino Fenech]
Peregrine falcons breeding in Gozo 'disappear' by Natalino Fenech
TimesofMalta.com, 12 May 2005
A pair of peregrine falcons breeding at L-Irdum Il-Kbir, in San Blas, Gozo, have suddenly disappeared.
The pair were first noticed displaying in the area in February and by early March only the male was seen as the female was probably brooding the eggs. Towards mid-April the two adults were sometimes seen returning to the nesting site with prey to feed the young but no birds have been observed for the past 15 days and no fletched young have been spotted either.
When peregrines were observed breeding in the past, eggs were laid in late February or early March. The eggs hatch at a time to coincide with the peak migration.
A bird watcher who was discreetly monitoring the falcons said it was not unusual for the birds to sometimes venture inland and on at least three occasions he saw the bird stooping at turtle doves, catching them in flight, on the other side of San Blas Valley.
"It is not too difficult to understand what has happened. The falcons have disappeared at the peak of the hunting season," the bird watcher said.
Peregrine falcons have been associated with Malta for a long time and a number of place names still bear their names, such as Ras Il-Pellegrin and Rdum Il-Bies.
Maltese peregrines were important because trained falcons were used to hunt other birds such as partridges. Falconry, was an important activity in the Middle Ages and continued to enjoy a degree of importance until 1798, when the Knights left and were replaced by the French.
Falcons trapped from Malta were held in high esteem and when Emperor Frederick II annexed Malta to Sicily in 1239, he had sent a team of 18 falconers to Malta to report back to him on the number of falcons on the islands and how many had been caught from the wild in that season.
The Knights of the Order of St John, who were granted the islands in fief, were obliged to pay a yearly nominal rent of a falcon or hawk on November 1, All Saints Day.
It later became customary to send a number of falcons to the kings of France, Spain, Portugal and Naples. The custom of sending falcons to kings existed before the Knights of St John were given Malta. Written documents dated 1446 indicate that falcons were already being sent to the King of France. In the mid-1500s, falcons were trapped both in Malta and in Lampedusa, where the Grandmaster used to send falcon trappers during the migration period.
The obligation to send falcons compelled the Order to create the rank of the Grand Falconer. The duties of the falconer were to prepare the falcons, to issue hunting licences and determine the dates when the hunting season was to open and close.
There were 20 official falcon trappers in Malta in the 1700s. Records of the number and types of falcons that were trapped exist and date back to 1431, when 14 falcons had been caught, of which 11 were peregrines and one was a saker falcon. The number of falcons trapped varied and up to 50 were caught annually but there were years when much fewer were caught.
Records held in the archives of the National Library shows that between 1646 and 1789 between one and 12 falcons were sent annually to the kings of France, Naples and the King of the two Sicilies.
Falcons were trapped by vertical nets called paragni, which already existed in 1492, as in May of that year, the Viceroy of Sicily, who governed Malta, had recognised the privilege of keeping paragni.
The Maltese falcon was made popular again internationally in 1941 through one of the most classic detective mysteries ever made by Warner Bros. studios, and featuring Humphrey Bogart.
Like all birds of prey, peregrines became protected by law in 1980 but they still suffer the face sad fate. Several pairs attempted to breed after 1979, when the last pair were recorded breeding and had raised three young at Ta' Cenc. But with the introduction and escalation of shooting from seacraft, no more breeding peregrines were observed.
Illegal hunting continued to take its toll on protected birds over the past week.
A heavy passage of honey buzzards were seen flying inland from the south against the strong northwest wind last Friday. Some 200 honey buzzards were seen in small parties at Xrobb l-Ghagin and practically all were shot.
A mortally wounded grey plover was seen at Ghadira on Monday. A nightjar with a broken wing was found at Xemxija on Monday.
