The White Stripes

Green-winged Teal, Seaton Marshes, Feb.2016 ( Copyright T D Wright )

GW Teal, Seaton Marshes, Feb.2016 ( Copyright T D Wright )

Having an overwintering rarity on your local patch is a nice way to get to know the species. The North American GW Teal amongst our Eurasian GW Teal is easy to pick out, even at long range, with its 'stonking' ( a professional ornithological term, you understand ) vertical white flank-stripes. It also has a pale patch near the base of the bill but I think that's just our individual specimen. The less bright golden-yellow dividing lines around the green areas on the head are not the most obvious feature I've ever beheld on a bird, but these are supposed to be an i.d. feature. Its behaviour is almost exactly the same as our EGWT and no other features differ noticeably. Thank God for the luminous White Stripes, eh?!