SNPL 03

An ID photo I took while surveying Snowy Plovers. Nearly every plover in our region is banded with a unique color combination; this lady is called White-Aqua-Yellow. My survey partner located this female and her mate, and then their 3-egg nest, so it was essential to get their color combos. I don't have a scope to read bands so the 60x zoom works pretty darn good. The plovers are banded at two stages in their life: 1 band at fledging, then 1-3 more bands at first breeding. Tagging birds with bi- or tri-colored bands (like white-aqua) is a unique system implemented in Oregon, so this little lady has apparently come south to breed.