Green- winged Teal at Herringfleet Marshes

On wednesday 27th February, hearing of a GWTeal on Herringfleet Marshes, it was just a little too late to reach the site as I would have got there at 5.45pm after having to retrieve my optical gear from home first the light would have been going rapidly by then. Fortunately, I had a day's A/L and postponed my planned Brecks trip, a Lowestoft Lizardland tick was available. So I parked at the Herringfleet Hills car park (newly re-opened) and walked down through the woods to look over the marshes. I saw Kevin B and we scanned the scrape and literally the first bird I saw as I set up the scope was the fine male Green- winged Teal at 10am. He was with 2 other Teal mostly asleep on small spit of an island. He was seen looking though an unfinished fence/ gate (no right hand post!) Slightly bigger and bulkier than the other Teal with a white vertical stripe seen down the side of the breast. Treecreeper heard in the woods but not seen. I then drove around to the Somerleyton Duke's Head but took the small track to the boat quay and parked there and walked north along the river path, initially no sign whatsoever of Water Pipits but the last bit of marsh before Smock's Mill, one Water Pipit flew up and settled for a while on a nearby gate, only to fly off when the camera had just been set up! Then at least 6+ Water Pipits seen. Behind a distant group of BH Gulls, a fine Ruff was seen feeding along the grassy edge. Seeing Steve S at the Mill, Steve eventually picked up the Green- winged Teal at 12.15pm around 150 metres NE of Smock's Mill, Walking back I checked the Gulls and 1 adult winter Mediterranean Gull seen on Somerleyton marshes too.