Malta Day Four- indoor rarities

My last full day on this trip and fortunately got all the work done and the contracts have been signed with no major issues. I spent this morning at Buskett, an area of Mediterranean Pine habitat and Citrus fruit gardens and I had lunch at the Medieval city of Mdina and visited the Natural History Museum there. Latest trip list here . In the afternoon I met up with my cousin Lizio, a Maltese hunter, fisherman and farmer and we talked all things nature all afternoon. I was hoping to try for the Bonaparte's Gull again but got lost in conversation.  Had a good look through Lizio's bird collection (registered with the authorities) and he showed me some Maltese rarities that he has collected. 

First-winter Richard's Pipit 

Female Snow Bunting 

Trumpeter Finch

A leucistic Pied Flycatcher

Male and female Chestnut-tailed Starlings. An Indian species and a partial migrant with vagrant records from Oman, Sri Lanka and Pakistan see here. These were collected 55 years ago by Lizio's dad. The provenance of these birds is an obvious question. 

An interesting first-summer Harrier- will have a read up on this when I get home. A juvenile Montagu's Harrier behind. Update 290123- I'm not sure about this as can't check the underwing to go through a full suite of features  but as it start it does look like this could be a worn juvenile so presumably a bird at the end of it's first cycle (first-summer). In that case the underpart saturation has been bleached/worn and the pale tips to the upperparts also worn. Despite the slightly dodgy taxidermy looks like that is a distinct boa on the neck and a pale collar with a dark cheek patch that reaches the lower mandible. So the head pattern looks like a better bit for juvenile Pallid (compare to juvenile Monty's in background that lacks the pale collar and no sign of boa (but could be obscured). A quick look on Ebird and this seems a fit here and more birds in this age and time of year here. 

A bit of Eleonara's Falcon variation. 

A decent bit of Long-eared Owl taxidermy 

These collections are stunning. Unfortunately this tradition is no longer sustainable as hunting pressure cannot be absorbed by all species in the context of cataclysmic habitat destruction and intensive land use across Europe . Lizio no longer collects but still hunts game legally. 

Highlight of a visit to the Natural History Museum was finding out about the Giant Swan, a species from the Middle Pleistocene from Malta and Sicily. The bird weighted 16kg and had a wing span of 3m.

Buskett (above) and the view from Mdina (below) across the eastern side of the island . Buskett is one of the few wooded areas in Malta.