Ed,
   I suspect it's fairly common. "I watched the parade [while] standing
up." "I saw the rainbow [while] driving to work." If you want a rule
for it, I would say that "while" is implied, and that we routinely
leave it out when there's no ambiguity. "I saw her walking in" and "I
saw her while walking in" mean different things.

Craig>

I was sitting in a restaurant at the Metropolitan Art Museum in New
> York, looking out the window for Cleopatra's Needle, and not being
> able to see it, I said to my friend, "But I saw it walking in."  (It
> was behind a post and couldn't be seen from where we were sitting.)
> What strikes me here is that what I said was perfectly natural;
> indeed, I can hardly imagine having said it any other way.  And I'm
> sure I did not pause or modify pitch between "it" and "walking."
> Comments?
>
> Ed S
>
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