In 1997, a Corncrake settled down in a lush meadow. Its behaviour suggested that she perhaps was looking to nest. So rare was this in our time that the authorities gave the farmer money for delaying his harvest and to actually buy food for the animal.
The farms at Husebø are small. In the past, fishing was the main livelihood - now it is rather farming that provides the supplementary income, with other work on the land as the main source of employment. A few farms still do farming full-time, first and foremost milk production, and these often rent land from the others.
There are still dirt roads that have been left undisturbed at Husebø, and many of the old barns are in use. The bird life is lively. Curlews come right down to the barns, Twites sit on most of the fence posts, Starlings are everywhere, and the Sparrow Hawk is a frequent visitor. The horned owl does not nest here, but he comes regularly to inspect. Inside of essentially all of the barns, you will find nesting Barn Swallows, most often more than usual for these parts. This is a sign of good insect production.
Whether or not the Corncrake really nested and raised a flock of young in 1997 is unknown. But, she must have felt appreciated. She returned namely to the same barn the year after. Nothing like this has happened in Hordaland since the 1970s, when the species disappeared as a regular nesting bird from our county.
