On January 18th (sorry for being late), Jim Flynn wrote:

> On Wednesday the 17th ... Becca Knox asked about a banded Harlequin
>>Duck on Whidbey Island and ... . Checking back issues of WOSNEWS (the journal
>>of the Washington Ornithological Society) I found mention of Harlequin Ducks
>banded in B.C. The note stated that the bands were both colored
>and coded and were on the birds RIGHT leg. Becca's post mentioned
>a yellow band on the LEFT leg. If anyone sees this or other banded
>Harlquins in the future an E-mail to Ian Gouldie of the Canadian
>Wildlife Service

The Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife has color-banded harlequin ducks
as well, using yellow bands. Codes are in black, using one or two
numbers/letters. For birds seen in Washington I would first suggest a
calling WDFW before Ian Goudie. For Whidbey Island, try the Region 4 office
in Mill Creek.

Hope this helps.

-- Janet Hardin
Port Townsend, WA
wings at olympus.net