Chats - what's not to like?

You can never have too many chats. The past month at Dungeness did not see particularly good numbers unfortunately, and it was a case of appreciating them all the more when they did appear.

Black Redstart on the power station boulders. I have seen an arrival of 100+ in the early 1980s
Northern Wheatear - very few around, and none of the hoped for rarer species
A male Stonechat, outside West Beach on my last morning

Comments

Derek Faulkner said…
I note that you say "Northern Wheatear - very few around", I would also say that there are very few people who call them that. I've looked on the internet and can't find a Southern Wheatear so why do we need a name change from Wheatear to Northern Wheatear. Was it just to satisfy the needs of those birdwatchers who feel that they are a cut above the rest of us and therefore invent more important sounding names.
9 November 2016 at 11:53
Steve Gale said…
There is more than one wheatear species, so the use of 'Wheatear' to differentiate it from any other wheatear species would be obviously flawed. Not a case of being 'a cut above' at all.
9 November 2016 at 17:45
Derek Faulkner said…
Don't agree Steve, the other Wheatears all have their own individual names that identify them, so my not simple Wheatear as a stand alone species. That name was OK for countless years before it changed and let's face it, most people still refer to it as a Wheatear, even the KOS Annual report, so why do you among a minority of people, still use Northern Wheatear.
9 November 2016 at 19:04
Steve Gale said…
Derek, I respect your decision not to call it a Northern Wheatear - please respect mine to do so.
9 November 2016 at 19:20
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