Subject: [Tweeters] Fwd: Cruise ship fallout
Date: Oct 18 22:13:20 2017
From: Denis DeSilvis - avnacrs4birds at outlook.com


Thanks, Ed. The eBird report brings back memories.

While in the US Navy,, I saw two major fallouts aboard ship during the Spring. The first was in the Mediterranean, about 30 miles south of Sicily (late March 1973). I had a mid-watch, and went out on deck about 0200 to grab some air. The storm we were in made the water rough, but the rain had slackened. When I closed the hatch, I realized I wasn't alone: Everywhere I looked on the deck were long, slim, bobbing birds - the ones closest to me were all Yellow Wagtails, and there were many hundreds of them just around me. When I walked aft, I had to take care not to step on any. It seemed as if the whole deck of the ship was alive and moving. Rain, wind, and wagtails - something I've never forgotten. (When I went back out after sunrise, I saw no birds, but by then we were entering Augusta Bay, and land.)

The second was in March 1988, almost exactly 100 miles off Cocoa Beach, FL. The ship was an LHA - looks like a baby aircraft carrier. We were getting ready to go into Fort Lauderdale the next morning, and the CO had ordered a fresh-water washdown. The whole flight deck was wet, with small pools of water scattered here and there. Suddenly, and for the next several hours, birds landed on the deck - first a few warblers, then many more. Then strange stuff, like a Spotted Sandpiper and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo; Many were drinking water, and a few even bathed. It was a gorgeous morning, and the birds made it that much more special. (Many of the sailors on deck just stopped and stared at the sight of about 300 birds that were there at one point.) As the water evaporated, the birds started lifting off. By noon, all were gone, likely continuing their northward migration.

May all your birds be identified,
Denis DeSilvis

avnacrs4birds at outlook.com

Sent from my Windows Phone
________________________________
From: Ed Swan<mailto:edswan2 at comcast.net>
Sent: ?10/?18/?2017 20:28
To: tweeters tweeters<mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] Fwd: Cruise ship fallout

Thought this was pretty cool.

Ed Swan
Nature writer and guide
www.theswancompany.com<http://www.theswancompany.com>
edswan2 at comcast.net<mailto:edswan2 at comcast.net>
206.949.3545


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Doug Brown" <bblackcat at comcast.net<mailto:bblackcat at comcast.net>>
Date: Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 7:31 PM -0700
Subject: Cruise ship fallout
To: <whatcombirds at lists.wwu.edu<mailto:whatcombirds at lists.wwu.edu>>


Chirp,

This story was reported in the Vancouver Birds listserve.
People on a cruise off the BC coast had an unusual bird fallout on the boat.
Read the story and view Arnold Skei?s photos and ebird list here ?.

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39968381

cheers, db