Aspects of the September 1969 fall of migrants in Malta

Abstract

J.Sultana and C. Gauci recorded in the September 1969 quarterly bulletin of the Malta Ornithological Society details of a major fall of trans-Saharan migrants in Malta during the last week of September 1969. Large Spring arrivals of birds that winter south of the Sahara are not unusual in Malta as borne out by historical records of the Society. Autumn migration through the island is however generally accepted as being of a minor nature and in most years the daily totals of species primarily involved in this major arrival do not reach double figures so late in the month of September if at any time.