Bird Aboard

While we were sailing from Miami, FL to Marathon, FL, the cutest little bird stopped by for a visit. He said hello, and proceeded to jump/fly into the pilot house. I guess he wanted a closer look at the inside of our boat.

Bird on a wire

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All the port holes and hatches were closed, so he couldn’t get out. I followed him down into the pilot house, each time I approached him to try and get him out, he flew further into the boat. We moved into the midships cabin and then to the forward cabin.  He saw the brightness of the large hatch above him and tried to fly out, realizing he couldn’t, he landed on one of the fishing rods.

Last time I had seen sketchy, our youngest kitty, she had hunkered down for the sail in the forpeak of the forward cabin. I was hoping that she was still in hiding and wouldn’t try to assist.

The bird and I looked at each other and I told him “it’s okay” and opened the hatch. As I held it open I quietly said “it’s okay, it’s okay, go on…”,  he took his chance and flew out the open hatch.  As I thought about this cute wonderful experience, I went back to the cockpit, and Syd said, “he made it out”, and I said, “I know, I helped him escape through the forward hatch”.  At that moment, the little birdie came back to say (I assume), “thank you for helping me, I like your boat” ;).

Then he was gone and I cried. It was such a beautiful communication with this little bird who had stopped by for a quick view of our boat. I was touched and so grateful that none of my cats were feeling sporty :).

Here are a few of the final photo’s of his adventure aboard our sailing vessel.

 

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1 Response

  1. from Birding Aboard says:

    Heather, your little hitchhiker is a young male American Redstart (think of it as a teenager 😉 You can see its blotchy adult plumage still coming in as the black spots. He’s on his first trip north, after wintering in the Caribbean, Central or South America. When he’s a bright black-and-orange adult, then he’ll breed in North America. But that won’t be until next season!

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