  The paper presents a phenomenon occurring in population processes that start
near zero and have large carrying capacity. By the classical result of
Kurtz~(1970), such processes, normalized by the carrying capacity, converge on
finite intervals to the solutions of ordinary differential equations, also
known as the fluid limit. When the initial population is small relative to
carrying capacity, this limit is trivial. Here we show that, viewed at suitably
chosen times increasing to infinity, the process converges to the fluid limit,
governed by the same dynamics, but with a random initial condition. This random
initial condition is related to the martingale limit of an associated linear
birth and death process.

Probability