Blue-winged Teal, Fairlop Waters

When news broke of a possible juvenile Blue-winged Teal present at Fairlop Waters we arranged to go, but before leaving the house news came through that the bird's wings had been clipped! Then later that morning another report stated that the bird was "fully winged". This was enough for us to make the short five-mile journey. Upon arrival, I had a quick scan while Brian sorted out the parking fees. No sign of the bird, then we spotted three birders in the distance and quickly joined them. They had the bird in sight, it was asleep on the bank of the main island. 

Eventually, it awoke and had a stretch and a short walk, Its left leg looked quite badly damaged and limped whenever it walked. There was no sign of any rings on either leg that we could see.

When it did eventually take to the water and flap its wings, it was indeed fully winged.

No leg rings 

After I came home I did a bit more work on the sexing of Blue-winged Teals. 

If there's very little white in the wing it would point towards it being a female, Males have bold white wing markings and even juveniles have a lot of white in the wing.

If the tail feathers are sharply pointed and new looking that would point towards an adult, whereas notched and worn feathers would point towards a juvenile bird.

Bill spots can help identify if the bird is an adult female or a juvenile female. Small spots indicate a juvenile and large spots an adult.

On the male's, leg colour can determine whether adult or juvenile, bright yellow indicates an adult, and washed out dull yellow a juvenile.