University of BergenPublished: 05.08.2015 | Author: Stein Byrkjeland
Leif M. Lien was known as a quiet man. But, quiet he was not on the 4th of June, 1974, when he came upon the rare Stonechat at Ågotnes, a pair with three youngsters. The bird researcher considered this species to be so rare that its picture wasn't even in the bird book. Under the heading, "Occurrences in Norway", it had only a minimal caption: "Shot 3 times on the Southwest coast". It appeared that Lien had documented the first ever find of nesting Stonechat in Scandinavia.
The bird is characteristic of the heather moor in Europe, but the western coast of Norway is far on the fringe of its range. In rough terms, its northerly distribution stops where the average temperature for January falls below freezing. Surprisingly enough, the stonechat is not a migratory bird, and this means that the local populations get nearly entirely wiped out in cold winters.
Later on, stonechats have been seen many times in the same area by Ågotnes. This species has also been found nesting other places in western Norway, and the Norwegian bird book in now better updated.
- Lien, L. M. 1975. Observasjon av hann og hunn av svartstrupet buskskvett med 3 flyvedyktige unger på Sotra – første hekkefunn på den skandinaviske halvøy. Krompen 4 (1):18–21.
