Green-winged Teal NDC

I went away on Friday night for the weekend for the first time since Christmas, so when I got a phone call from Jono (Birding Dad) on Saturday morning I got that sinking feeling - "I'm watching a Green-winged Teal at North Duffield, can you come down and see it". Er, no, I'm in Warwickshire! I just had to hope it would be there Sunday afternoon. Several people saw it on Saturday morning before it was flushed by shooting at the nearby farm and was not seen afterwards. Though I did get several photos of the bird so I knew what I was missing, thanks everyone!

There were no reports of it during Sunday morning so I headed straight there when I got home just after lunch. There was quite a few ducks on the water - this could take some time.

In fact it didn't! I started on the left side of the large flock and about 10 birds in was the smart drake Green-winged Teal! The bird was on show until dusk. A nice bird for my Patchwork Challenge list! I got a few record shots on my phone (below). There wasn't much else of note, just the usual suspects.

Green-winged Teal (phone-scoped) 

Green-winged Teal (phone-scoped) 

Green-winged Teal (phone-scoped) 

Green-winged Teal (phone-scoped)