Jim,

Sounds like you had a nice walk.  I would have liked to have had some of 
those on the xmas count a month ago.  The shrike we saw last month was 
sitting in a small tree just behind the highschool and along the gasline 
right-of-way that runs just south of the school boundary.

Actually, the land you were on is private - the schools own very little 
outside of their sports fields.  Most of it is slated for development in 
the not too distant future - another good meadow bites the dust.   A 
good chunk of it on the back side, further from Bowie Mill road and 
beyond the first hedgrow, will become parkland when the housing 
development goes in.   Currently it is being cut for hay by a local 
farmer (you probably saw the giant hay bales along the field edge).  He 
is not likely to give  you any grief (as long as you are not on an ATV) 
since it is not actually his property.  The developer at this point is 
not active on the site so there really is no one to bother you and a lot 
of  folks walk their dogs back there.  

If you go quite aways back beyond the second hedgerow, the large 
un-mowed fields is parkland and has some nice trails cut by neighbors.  
I'm generally not one to roam on private property but this is a pretty 
safe one to wander until they start construction.  If anyone were to 
stop you I would tell them you were on your way to parkland in the 
back.  Hope this helps.  Let me know if you find anything else out there.

Rob Gibbs
Damascus, MD



FELLEY, JAMES wrote:

>Rob Gibb's post several days ago about a possible Northern Shrike at the
>fields surrounding Magruder HS (on Muncaster Mill Rd in Rockville)
>motivated me to wander over there on Saturday morning, before the big
>freeze.  Walking the field between Sequoyah ES and Magruder HS, I found
>crows and Canada Geese, but also a single Eastern Meadowlark, 2 Horned
>Larks, and (sitting on the batting cage behind the MHS football field) a
>Merlin.  These are good birds for Montgomery County, though my daughter,
>a senior at MHS, seemed unthrilled.
>
>   I have a question about access that Rob might be able to answer.  I
>believe all these fields are county-owned (specifically by Montgomery
>County Public Schools).  The fields are posted with 'No trespassing'
>signs along Bowie Mill Road and Muncaster Mill Rd, but there are no such
>signs anywhere on the school grounds bordering the fields.  Since I
>parked at the elementary school, I figured I was legal in my wanderings.
>Yes?  No?
>
> 
>
>                       Jim
>
>
>
>  
>