Since some of us are recounting some weird birding moments, one of my
"weird" moments happened in Ushuaia, Argentina back in the early or mid 1980's,
whenever it was the end of the Falkland (Malvinas) war (can't remember the year
exactly as I've been there several times) as that was a staging site for some
of my many whale research cruises to Antarctica aboard Russian and Japanese
whale catcher boats through that decade.

At any rate, during some free moments, I was casually strolling along the
shoreline of Ushuaia, binoculars and camera in hand totally entranced in and
photographing Steamer Ducks, Kelp Geese, and all the other cool stuff right
there so close at hand, that I really had not noticed the Argentine navy fleet
all tied up just across the channel. Suddenly, the Argentine military and
police descended and promptly arrested me as a suspect spy (for the Brits I
presumed) and was hauled away for interrogation. I produced my passport and
other documents that more or less showed and explained why I was in Ushuaia in
the first place as well as pointing out the ships upon which I was embarking
upon. All that turned into a frustrating venture for both them and me, mainly
communication since I scarcely spoke, much less understood a word of Spanish.
Neither side was getting anywhere and the authorities took me to another
place to try again. The frustration continued as I tried to explain that I was
only looking at and photographing birds (avies). Finally, someone gestured
to a 'black bird' out on the rocks and somehow it came across that they were
testing me to see if I *really* knew what it was. I said "cormorant" and
somehow managed to explain and describe what it was, apparently in sufficient
detail in some sort of shattered 'Spanglish' that they were sufficiently
satisfied that I was not a spy or terrorist, and then it was over and they let me
go. They still confiscated the roll of film that was in my camera but none of
the others I had tucked away so it was no big loss.

Anyway, the moral of the story I suppose is that if you find yourself in
some foreign territory or country recently engaged in the hostilities of war,
you might want to look a little beyond the focus of your immediate surroundings
just to make sure your seemingly harmless intentions won't be construed by
watching eyes as perhaps something more sinister.

I guess Ushuaia has grown quite dramatically in recent years and since the
advent of Antarctic tourism. Back in the early-mid 1980's, it was a very
small quaint little village with minimal amenities. During another trip down
there, I was faced with a sudden dental emergency (i.e., abscess / root canal;
what could be worse?!!) and the horror of that experience with the local and
minimally equipped dentist there is entirely another story..... Ahh, the
memories.

Richard Rowlett
Bellevue (Eastgate), WA



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