Date: 5/10/26 8:56 pm From: Cassandra and Xavier via groups.io <xaviandra14...> Subject: Re: [OrangeCountyBirding] Oceanic (offshore) warbler fallout
Brenda Sabin and I took the Hammond's Flycatcher and Wilson Warblers to
Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center. Unfortunately, one of the Wilson's
Warblers died before making it back to the shore. The Hammond's Flycatcher
was eager to get out, and we are hopeful it will survive. Still, it was
very sad to see so many passerines exhausted and dying in the ocean.
Cassandra Margitan
Santa Ana
On Sun, May 10, 2026 at 6:22 PM Dawn Hubbard via groups.io <britomart73=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> That sounds absolutely terrible. I've had little desire to take a pelagic
> trip due to seasickness, but seeing dead warblers would be awful and
> depressing.
>
> Dawn Hubbard
> Garden Grove
>
> On Fri, May 8, 2026 at 9:00 PM <tgmiko...> via groups.io <tgmiko=
> <gmail.com...> wrote:
>
>> Friday 5/8/2026 2055
>>
>> Hi
>> I was fortunate to be on the pelagic organized by Dave Perekstra today,
>> out of Dana Point. He can write about the seabirds and cetaceans.
>> The reason that I am writing this email is to describe the warbler
>> fallout that we had over open water. In this case, the word "fallout" is
>> literally what happened. Warblers were flying towards the boat and they
>> would repeatedly attempt to land, chicken out, veered away from the boat,
>> attempt a second landing, chicken out again, and then finally give up and
>> land on the roof of the boat. Many warblers did not make it and they
>> dropped into the ocean. Randomly the boat would pass a dead migrant
>> songbird floating in the water. Dave was able to reach down into the water
>> and save some of the birds, including a Hammond's Flycatcher. When we got
>> to shore, neither the Hammond's Flycatcher nor the Wilson's Warbler wanted
>> to fly out of his hand and go to the trees to eat (remarkably, there was
>> some big fat moths on the boat and they hand fed the
>> Hammond's Flycatcher while he was inside a tupperware container, and he
>> greedily wolfed it down). Other birds that rested on the boat for a while
>> before leaving included several more Wilson's warblers, a Townsend's
>> Warbler and Western Tanagers.
>> One of the Western Tanagers caught a large moth on the boat and flew off
>> with it.
>>
>> Tom Miko
>> Claremont 91711
>> 909.241.3300
>>
>>
> --
> Dawn Hubbard
> Anaheim
>
>
>
