I stopped off at the Audubon Center at Dungeness River in Sequim today.
Lovely place, very birdy. I was watching two species of warblers at once
when I got a one second gestalt look at a large brown bird flying into the
brush at the edge of the parking area. My brain had to piece together an ID
from limited data but I rejected hawk as it just didn't have the right
shape. What other big brown bird could it be? A ruffed grouse. Eager to
confirm this I walked over closer but got distracted by not one, two but
three warblers, all different species. (Yellow, yellow-rumped, Wilsons)
After a minute or so of Warbler watching there was a distinct crunching in
the brush which turned into a definite crashing. I have never associated
Grouse with crashing in the brush and the sound was moving to my left so I
walked along the parking lot edge and there was a break in the brush and a
bit of trail and bunch of old logs. The crashing was heading my direction so
I stood and waited, and to my complete and utter astonishment, out in to the
little opening wandered a black bear cub!



There are two reactions typical to a bear cub. One is the, Aw isn't he a
cute little guy gushy reaction to baby animals of all kinds. The other is
the opposite, the Oh my god, where is the mother bear shock of fear. While
my brain was in the aw aint it cute mode, my body magically transported me
to my car, unlocked and opened the car door before my brain had even
noticed. As my heart rate started to slow down, the brain picked up some
vireoish warbler yellow green brown bird and I figured it was safe to hike
down the maple covered railroad bridge trail. I was glad I did, it was very
warblery, after I had seen several Wilsons, yellow-rumps, and yellows I
started counted and got 15 more along the trail. It was like every maple
tree had its own contingent of warblers.



As I got back to my car and looked over at the parking lot near where the
cub had been, a ruffed grouse did its funny chicken walk along the edge. I
watched it, but it did not turn into a bear while I was looking at it.



Rob Sandelin

Field tripping on the peninsula