Let's look at two of them in this post. The bands on the plover identified at Hillside Beach were read like this: left high - neon green, left low - no band, right high - metal, right low - red. The metal band is the key to where and when this plover chick was banded. However, you would need to either capture this bird, a risky undertaking, or have the bird observed closely through a powerful spotting scope so the band number could be read. As neither was done, we have to use the colour combinations in an effort to determine where and when these birds were banded.
Back in 2009, we banded five chicks at Grand Beach and three at Gimli. Last year, we banded three chicks at Grand Beach. Now back to the Hillside bird. Birds banded at Grand Beach were given a bicolour band, red over black, right low and the Gimli birds were black over red, right low. The tricky thing about the Hillside bird is that to make the bicolour bands we wrapped half a red band with special black tape used in pin-striping automobiles. That tape over a two year period may have worked itself free and now the band only shows red. Confused? Stay with me. Of the 11 plovers we banded, two were given neon (light) green bands, left high; one at Grand Beach, the other at Gimli.
So to summarize, we are fairly certain the Hillside bird was one of ours, but it could have been banded either in 2009 at Gimli or last year at Grand Beach. The only way we will no for sure is if we see it again and have an opportunity to read its metal band.
The bands on one of the plovers identified at Grand Beach were read like this: left high - no band, left low - no band, right high - metal, right low - red over black (bicolour). What does this tell us? Almost assuredly, this is one of the birds we banded at Grand Beach in either 2009 or 2010. Because it appears the band, left high has been lost, we have no way of telling if this plover was one of the chicks banded from a nest by the channel at Grand Beach or is the one chick we banded in 2009 from a nest in parking lot #5 at Grand Beach.
Our top sleuths are on the case and the investigation continues. I'll discuss the other two banded birds in my next post.
KP
