The Salina area is known to attract several water birds such as herons, waders and egrets which fly to the area to fish and catch insects from the water’s surface. But the fate of one such bird was met too early after being a victim of what Salina Nature Reserve has called an “egoistic and illegal hunting act.”

A juvenile Grey Heron was wintering at the reserve since October, which made it a regular bird to see at the reserve. “So much so, that it was nicknamed "Gandalf" (the wizard from The Lord of the Rings, as he is also grey). The staff, guests and pedestrians got used to see him daily and the bird got used to the people and noises from various construction sites and also the heavy traffic. It was quite a photogenic subject and a great model at our reserve,” they say on Facebook.

“Unfortunately at around the end of March, after flying out of the reserve to stretch its wings, it returned with missing feathers in both wings, a clear sign of being targeted and shot by an illegal hunter,” they shared.

The Grey Heron, or Russett Griz in Maltese, is a protected species and hunting is prohibited at that time of year. “This clearly indicates that some individuals don’t care at all about the laws and regulations of our country and have no respect for wildlife seeking refuge at a reserve.”

But Gandalf’s journey didn’t end there. “To add insult to injury, on the 22nd of April, this bird was once again shot at whilst flying somewhere in the vicinity of the reserve. Unfortunately, this time the bird couldn’t make it back to the reserve due to his injuries and fell short of the Sukkursu, landing on the bicycle lane of the coast road.”

“A passer-by was kind enough to inform BirdLife Malta about this situation, but sadly the bird was run over by a vehicle before anyone could get to him, and he didn’t make it.”

The reserve said that the MaltaGov vet confirmed that Gandalf had indeed been shot after performing X-rays. “Sadly, this egoistic and illegal hunting act has robbed the visitors of Salina from one of its regular charismatic birds that had made our reserve its home for six whole months! We are all the poorer for this illegal hunting act.”