Patrick,
Just a note that in the Western Hemisphere, Peru uses yellow flags.  A
group there recently started a shorebird marking program that may have
included sanderling.  To find out more you can contact Eveling Tavera
Fernandez ([log in to unmask]) who I copy on this email.  Good luck and
keep up the good work.

Best,

David S. Mizrahi, Ph.D.
Vice-president, Research and Monitoring
New Jersey Audubon Society
600 Route 47 North
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Office:     609.861.1608 x17
Fax:   609.861.1651

Making New Jersey a better place for people and wildlife since 1897


On 05/12/12 07:16, Patrick Leary wrote:
> Ft. George Inlet (Huguenot Park inlet shore)  While surveying Red knots in
> the inlet on Thursday 3, May, a Sanderling with a conspicuous yellow
> marker mounted on its right leg was briefly sighted before flushing and
> flying north across the inlet.  Initially the bright marker was mistaken
> for a geolocator attached to one of many knots foraging on a distant sand
> bar. However, when the knots flushed away, a lone Sanderling remained with
> the yellow marker. Although viewed briefly, it was evident that the marker
> was a flag of some manner and not a color band.  At 4-500 meters distance
> from my vantage point, no code could be detected and the bird was in view
> for less than 10 seconds before it took flight and continued north across
> the wide inlet. When first detected, I did not even have time to zoom my
> scopeâEUR^(TM)s eyepiece on the bird before it departed.
>
> Following my departure from HMP, I entered Lt. Talbot Island State Park,
> drove down to the north side of the inlet and hiked out to the beach to
> search for the bird, but none of the SAND found there were marked. Per
> international marking protocol, Yellow-flagged shorebirds originate in
> Australia or East Asia.  However some SAND in Britain have been affixed
> with small yellow geolocators. Per consultation with Dr. Larry Niles, no
> SAND in NA have been affixed with such geolocators.  Supplementary markers
> denote specific countries of origin, but this morningâEUR^(TM)s bird was much too
> distant and viewed too briefly to determine if the yellow marker was a
> flag or geolocator.
>
> The unusual occurrence of a possible, western Pacific, SAND follows the
> appearance of the Greater Sand Plover at HMP a few years past. With the
> increased marking and tracking of shorebirds across the globe, we may
> discover that Asian or European migrants shift into this hemisphere more
> frequently than previously thought.  It is most unfortunate that more data
> could not have been collected from the briefly sighted bird, but such is
> the nature of some observations during peak migratory periods.  Should the
> bird pass through Britain and be recaptured or pass through DelBay this
> spring and be captured the researchers may have quite a surprise as to its
> global wanderings.
>
> This message will posted to other listserves in the hope that other
> Atlantic coast observers may sight the bird as it moves along the Atlantic
> flyway.
>
> Patrick Leary, Fernandina Beach, Nassau County, FL
>