Thank you! I saw your post yesterday... This morning walking to work on Penn campus in Philly, I heard something I didn't recognize but thought it sounded similar to the bird in your post, and according to Merlin - it was a blackpoll!

I was at the Indian Ocean on the coast of Kenya in February. The sea was calm in the mornings (as seen here), almost like a lake. The winds shifted every afternoon, making the waves rough and choppy. It was wonderful.