Rye Harbour NR 01/01/2018

Today I intended to see as many bird species as I could, in order to get as many on my year list as soon as possible. I started off early, and before I left for Rye. In the garden, I got all the usual suspects, the first bird of the year being a Song Thrush that was calling loudly from a nearby aerial. Of course, as with any other New Year's Day, the weather was awful, and in drizzle, heavy mist, and high winds I battled through the nature reserve. Because the weather was so awful, I simply visited Ternery Pool and the Quarry. On these parts, there were numerous Lapwing, Golden Plover, and Oystercatcher, as well as the long staying but very distant Red-breasted Merganser, and three grebes - Little, Great Crested, and Black-necked, the latter of which was a life tick. As you can see from the pictures below, the weather was atrocious.  All the same, as the night closed in I managed a respectable total of 60 species, the best I have ever done in one day.