Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1237083
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 APRIL 2020 NEWS JAMES DEBONO ONGOING works on the Cen- tral Link Project have shed light on an archaeological tomb un- der the agricultural fields along Triq Ferdinandu Inglott, which will have to make way for the new road network. The site where the tomb was found consisted of fertile agri- cultural land, which is now be- ing excavated in preparation for the necessary road build-up. The identified tomb is located in the proposed northbound ve- hicular carriageway. MaltaToday is informed that the tomb may date back to Pu- nic or Roman times, but its dat- ing still has to be ascertained. The new resting location of the tomb will be within a radius dis- tance of 10 metres of the present site. Before the project was ap- proved the Superintendence had warned of the archaeolog- ical sensitivity of the area due to similar finds in the past. For that reason, all works are being supervised by archaeologists to ensure that any site uncovered is adequately protected. But works will still result in the destruction of several ver- nacular buildings, deemed to be worthy of protection – some of these rural structures will be re- located but removed from their existing context. An old and extensive bell- shaped well has also been dis- covered in the area immediately next to the tomb, but while the tomb will be saved and trans- ferred to a new nearby location, the bell-shaped tomb has al- ready been backfilled with inert material to be buried under the new road. The Superintendence of Cul- tural Heritage has not recom- mended any interventions to this well, whose extent still has to be determined. A contractor will have to de- termine the extent of the well to ascertain whether it will have an impact on the proposed inter- vention on the tomb. Works will be monitored by an archaeolog- ical monitor approved by SCH. The tomb was uncovered, manually cleaned and docu- mented under the supervision of archaeologists. IM was sub- sequently instructed by the SCH to shift the uncovered tomb to an agreed nearby location, out- side the project limits. A tender has now been issued for the re- location workers. The tomb has to be completely detached from its surrounding rock material and safely trans- ported to the designated loca- tion using appropriate equip- ment. Works will be done using a chainsaw cutting machine which creates minimal vibration to the surroundings. The tomb will be lifted using appropriate hooks welded to steel beams. Ancient tomb uncovered in Central Link works to be moved 10m JAMES DEBONO AS concern mounts on the safe- ty of protected turtle doves, which arrive in Malta towards the end of April, valuable infor- mation on the bird's migrato- ry patterns will be provided by one bird tagged in Malta back in 2017. The incredible migratory journey of the Maltese satel- lite-tagged turtle dove – named Francesco – across the Sahara and the Mediterranean, can be followed online on a live map on BirdLife's website. But there are over 6,000 hunt- ers in Malta who are currently allowed to shoot at quail. Hunt- ing for turtle dove was stopped in 2015 when the bird was rec- ognised internationally as a threatened species. Now concern on the fate of tur- tle doves set to arrive in Malta is now growing due to the opening of the spring season – always a controversial derogation from the EU ban – despite concerns on the authorities' ability to enforce regulations during the COVID-19 emergency. Various cases of illegalities have already been reported by BirdLife. The situation may escalate as the arrival of turtle doves coin- cides with the last days of the Spring season on 30 April. Francesco, a turtle dove tagged on Comino in April 2017, has been followed by Birdlife for the past four years. The bird started off this year's journey back to a breeding area near Naples in Italy from Ghana on 13 March 2020, and has already crossed over Burkina Faso and Mali. When he arrived in Mali, he surprisingly turned 100 kilo- metres to the east, crossing the Niger river to spend some time in the Ansonge Menaka reserve, a game reserve in southern Mali near the Niger border. Subsequently he edged closer to the Sahara and in to Algeria. If Francesco follows the same route as in previous years, he will likely move to refuel in Tu- nisia before crossing over the Mediterranean in the last week of April. In fact, this is when we see the peak in turtle dove mi- gration in Malta. The turtle dove has roughly following the same trajectory crossing two huge hurdles – the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea – including the Maltese is- lands which could be his resting spot as he migrates to Italy, as was the case in April 2017. But the turtle dove is present- ly facing serious threats and its numbers have plummeted by 80% in the past 30 years, due to habitat loss from industry, de- velopment and agriculture along with hunting. In June 2015 the Internation- al Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) acknowledged the decline of the species plac- ing the bird on the Red List of Threatened Species and listing the Turtle-dove as 'vulnerable'. As a result, the Maltese govern- ment enacted a moratorium on the hunting of turtle doves dur- ing spring. The satellite device attached birds like Francesco weigh only 5g and does not harm the birds. They transmit hits through the satellite system giving the ac- curate location of the birds and valuable information to orni- thologists studying their migra- tory patterns. The turtle dove is most com- mon in Malta during spring while smaller numbers arrive in autumn. Turtle doves from Aus- tria, Hungary, the Czech Repub- lic, France, Germany, Italy and Poland are known to visit Malta. Many migrants arrive at night, while some arrive in the early hours of the morning in flocks. In the past flocks to Malta could reach several hundred, and breeding pairs spotted in the Lunzjata valley in 1956 and 1963 were later killed. The hunt- ing ban has seen more prospec- tive breeding birds recorded but they eventually disappear within days of the opening of the rabbit hunting season in June. Francesco's amazing journey nears Malta. Let's hope he moves quickly along... Satellite tagged turtle-dove expected to cross over in next weeks The turtle dove has orange-brown feathers and a pinkish chest, and migrates to the south of the Sahara with its return passage taking place in spring