Wooten's Landing is on Sands Road, in southern AA County. It's mostly wetlands now, although there is some drier land if you walk the whole circuit. Jon Ranson and I go there frequently, but normally walk to the end of the wetlands area to a stand of pines and hardwood, then turn around and come back. In past years, we found the path to get small and very wet about 3/4 of the way around. We've also found the best birds nearest the water, or in the hardwood stands just out of the marsh.
Another good, close spot is Sands Road, towards Route 408 (east) from Wootens . The habitat is quite different - open grassy hill and then some woodlands. I've found meadowlark there and often there are a lot of sparrows although I haven't pulled anything rare from there. We don't go to Sands Road too often, but it's enjoyable.
One thing to be aware of regarding the parks in this area of South County, particularly Wootens and Sands Road: the neighborhoods nearby are not the nicest in the world. Low income housing and trailer courts, some with significant drug activity, are nearby. Most people in those locations are fine folk - but an undercurrent is NOT fine, and some of the local trailer courts are rough enough to have regular police patrols.
In a recent chat with the county medical examiner (ie, coroner), he told me that the semi-rural and rural areas of Southern AA County have become "dumping sites" for gang-related and drug-related violence. Particularly areas near Sands Road and Lower Pindell Road. Those deaths, however, are mostly from DC area (which is very close by car). And, fortunately, they are still rare. However, I was advised they are becoming more common and to be a bit cautious, especially at night or dusk.
As recently as last year I would sometimes bird Sands Road Park and Wootens Landing by myself - but never without a cell phone handy and having advised friends exactly where I was. In the past year, however, I've become much less comfortable with that. It's not uncommon to see people at either place, not all of whom are fishing/birding/outdoors types. In particular, Wooten's seems to be a "party place" for some teen/young adults in the evening. Once or twice, I've had my "that person is funky" alarm go off - but fortunately I was not alone and there was no trouble at all.
These really are GREAT places to be and nice places to bird - and I have had NO trouble, personally.
HOWEVER - please be aware that it would be best to bird these places in pairs or groups, and/or stick to daylight hours. I don't think you'll run into trouble, but the proximity to known drug areas and to DC is worthy of a note of caution.
Joanne
Joanne Howl, DVM
<jovet...>
West River, MD
-----Original Message-----
From: Warblerick <ricksussman1955...>
To: mdbirding <mdbirding...>
Sent: Sat, Mar 23, 2013 5:52 pm
Subject: [MDBirding] Re: Tree Swallows at Wooton Wetlands Park
On Saturday, March 23, 2013 4:11:57 PM UTC-4, Hugh Vandervoort wrote:
> A flock of 50 or so, very entertaining, and a Wilson's Snipe.
> --
> My Birding Blog
> http://hughvandervoort.com/wordpress/
Where exactly is this park?
R.Sussman
Woodbine,MD
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