Novo gnezditveno prebivališče navadnega kupčarja Oenanthe oenanthe v Sloveniji
New breeding habitat of the Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe in Slovenia

slovenian

1999

volume 20, issue 93

bird    Slovenia 

Društvo za opazovanje in proučevanje ptic Slovenije

Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe is a rather rare breeder in Slovenia, its breeding distribution indicating somewhat greater concentration in the Julian Alps in the NW part of the country. Its habitats are open rocky dry pastures of the high karst and upland grasslands above the treeline with numerous stones and rubble that had rolled down from the upper places. Some of the breedingly suspicious observations made in the past in the lower regions have been highly questionable. In 1998, the Northern Wheatearćs breeding was confirmed in the vicinity of Velenje at about 400 m a., in the area of thelocal coalmine. At some places the exploitation of coal has been abandoned and the galleries have been flooded-by water. Here and there the earth has sunk a great deal and many deep rifts have occurred immediately below the surface. The area, where the breeding Wheatears were recorded, covers the place (called Pepel) where cinders from the thermal power station šoŠtanj are being deposited. The layers of cinders are several metres high and levelled atdifferent heights. Smaller depressions have been made into some kind of pools and some of them are occasionally flooded by water. In some places the larger surfaces are covered with tailings. The newer deposits of cinders are virtually bare, while the older ones are covered with high rural vegetation. (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters)

16.09.2009