At the end of our walk around Wied Fulija I noticed a bird flying past in the distance and it landed a far distance away from where we were. I pointed my camera at it, zoomed as far as I could, focused and took one shot without any idea what sort of bird it was. Then on the view finder I enlarged, enlarged and enlarged and was so excited to see a blue bird that I had never seen before. I immediately decided it was Il-Merril. At home I googled it immediately and confirmed the name. Then I looked for some information about the bird and here it is.
Il- Merril is the National bird of the Maltese Islands.
Blue Rock Thrush, Monticola solitaries, is a solitary birds which loves the Maltese Islands. It can be seen mainly near sea cliffs but may be also present in steep inland valleys or near buildings in ruins.
Posting early for tomorrow as at 4.00am we will be picked up and transfered to the airport for a week's stay at Treviso, Northern Italy. Will try to keep in contact.
