Green-winged Teal: This bird was formerly split in December 2000 and given full specific status by the British Ornithologists' Union's Records Committee.
It doesn't really seem that long ago.
The green-winged teal is the American counterpart of our own Eurasian teal and the drake's are identified by an obvious vertical white stripe at the front of the flanks which Eurasian Teal does not. This remains the single most striking feature to look out for when scanning through a flock of Eurasian teal.
Disappointingly I witnessed a photographer enter the farmers field and approach bird. The bird was subsequently flushed along with all the other birds and he even disturbed a pair of lapwing which were going mad, before he spotted me scoping from the lay-by and hurried away back to his car.
