Following my last post, I took another walk around and took some images with the wifes trusty Sony point and shoot. The image above shows the rear view of one of the hides I found on the cliff tops - it's well constructed from sandstone blocks, has a entrance, strong roof and as you will see, some degree of comfort built in......
View from the front complete with comfy leather look seat...
Below is the view from inside - a commanding position from which to see all that flys past
The user even has a purpose built drain - can't think what that might be used for, but it's at waist height - almost........
This is one of the flat surfaces placed in front of the hide - not what I described in yesterdays blog entry - but on a similar vein. You can see the next 'perch' in the background.
.......and here are the rest in the line, all were set in a rectangle, shortest side from the hide...
the view facing another hide a bit further along the cliff top. You can see the cleared ground and perches on either side...
Another view - here you can see at least 3 hides in close proximity......there are dozens all around the coast line.....
A shooting position and stool..
And from the outside - another hide is in the background..
From this image you can just make out several perches against the sea. They aren't as far away as they look here....
I can't say for sure these are shooting or trapping hides, but I found lots of cartridges scattered around.
Final picture on this subject. This is taken from yet another hide, and from behind. To the right, left and behind you can see block piles - each one one at this location had a small metal cross set into the stone, either a perch, or perhaps some way of holding a net ?
To be honest, I've no way of telling if these are structures are 50 years old or whether they were built last year. Personally, I hope they are 50 years old, and are unused relics of a hobby that has long since passed into the annals history.
2 comments:
This is a subject I have written about a few times - and continues to disgust me with the attitudes of the shooters there. This is a major part of the problem with loss of migrant species to the UK. One such story here
http://wildlifeacrossthewater.blogspot.com/2009/10/news-killing-goes-on.html
Martin
Totally agree Martin - it was only when I sat and started to surf the net that I saw the extent of the issue.
Malta is a small island and yet they issue a disproportionally large number of hunting licenses (over 12,000) annually.
They are cracking down with heavy fines and life bans, so hopefully this abhorant activity will die out over time.
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