Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1520629
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 MAY 2024 5 ALMANAC Nature Notebook 918. Collared Pratincole THE collared pratincole (M. perniċjotta) is an exercise in elegance: slim, streamlined, long-legged with chic subdued tones and what looks like professionally applied face make-up. It's equally elegant in flight, looking very much like a large swallow complete with forked tail – no wonder the Father of Taxonomy Linnaeus grouped it with the swallow family. It's not a swallow, though, but a wader that spends much of its time near water. But pratincoles don't poke about in the mud for worms as most shorebirds do, but rather snap up insects from the air – yes, just like swallows again! The collared pratincole is a rare visitor to Malta and isn't seen every year, but one turned up last week at BirdLife's Salina nature reserve. It spent some time resting and preening, then resumed its migration north to nest, possibly somewhere in Sicily. Join us for a Roundtable about Environmental Educa- tion! This Online Event will allow climate and environment experts and Primary Education Educators from both Malta and Cyprus to connect for knowledge acceleration, peer-mentoring, best practice sharing and networking. We're offering a first-time opportunity to bring together Educators from Primary Education, along with Environment and Cli- mate Change Practitioners, from both Malta and Cyprus, in an online space to discuss good practices, challenges and prospects for improving environmental education in Primary School Education. Info: 22nd May | 12:15 – 1:15PM Victor Falzon, Aron Tanti (photo) www.birdlifemalta.org Green idea of the week 790: Registration is required via the form: https://forms.gle/2qoRRFtNXBCdgzzBA Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation – www.foemalta.org/donate Don't miss this From the British Isles On May 25 Place: St Agatha's Auditorium The MPO celebrates the British musical heritage with award-winning conductor Jun Kim. MacCunn's Scottish Overture painting a spectacular Scottish landscape, Britten's English Sea Interludes portraying breathless sketches of the English seaside, Alexander Kagan's virtuosic Walton Violin Concerto, and Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 5, a serene masterpiece amid wartime, offer hope for peace. Give nature a voice. Become a BirdLife member Twentytwo French Night On May 26 Place: TwentyTwo, San Julián Experience the ultimate V.I.P. Party: French Night Special Edition at Twentytwo. Located in the Portomaso Tower - Malta's tallest skyscraper. Enjoy the French ambiance and immerse yourself in the latest French music, all while taking in the breathtaking 360-degree view from the top floor. A GOOD WEEK Good Week/Bad Week A BAD WEEK Ireland has broken its Eurovision "curse", qualifying for the contest's grand final for the first time since 2018. Appropriately enough, it did so with the help of a "goth gremlin goblin witch" - aka singer Bambie Thug, whose electro-metal anthem Doomsday Blue is now among the favourites to win. US musician and producer Steve Albini, who was known for his work with acts including Nirvana, the Pixies and PJ Harvey, has died at the age of 61. Albini was an instrumental and uncompromising figure in the US indie scene in the 1980s and 90s, leading bands including Big Black and Shellac. Other acts who made it through Tuesday's first semi-final included Croatia's Baby Lasagna and Finland's Windows95Man, as fans revelled in the year's most out there performances. His influence was also heard on the several thousand albums he produced and engineered.