Konterra Drive fields and ponds (private property, restricted access)

[Marcy Stutzman]

Jay M Sheppard posted this information on Facebook MD Birding on January 22 at 2:31 pm. He asked me to repost it here because birders and/or photographers continue to trespass on private property aka Konterra (it happened again yesterday):

"Birders and photographers are reminded: Konterra is private property. No entry off the side walks along Konterra Drive. Wish we could get permission to allow folks to wander onto the property, but not at present time. Unfortunately, people including birders, photographers, and bikers to name just a few, are illegally accessing the Konterra private property. The last two permitted-trips I've led, two mountain bikers who were told they could not enter the property entered it and rode off-road around the property; two birders/photographers walked onto the property (not part of the organized group); and three birders/photographers were hiding (not so well) in the wooded hills of the property under the power lines. It is entirely up to the property owner who he allows to access his property. As a birding community who enjoys seeing the birds, we will ultimately pay the price if the limited access we enjoy is taken away. At the moment I am the only birder who has access. The owner has declined to issue any more access permits at my request."

Jay is a long-time personal friend of the land owner and is the only birder (or photographer) who has permission to access Konterra. He has hosted multiple field trips to give birders and photographers opportunities to see the Short-eared Owls who visit during the winter. Konterra is a former mining site and is being developed to become a town center. It is entirely private property, including the gravel roads and the start of improved paved roads. Whatever you thought about being able to walk onto the property (i.e., past the locked gates and cement barriers, or across fields), is wrong.

If you are interested in joining a field trip led by Jay, contact him via FB or email, or me and I'll pass your contact info to him.

Marcy Stutzman
Russett, MD 20724

[Steve Huy]

Is this being posted here because the violators are members of this group? I would think with all the warnings that the members know not to trespass at this property. If they are ignoring it, continued warnings are not going to make a difference. I think that rather than repeated posts here the offending individuals should be targeted. Perhaps these constant public reminders that this place exists and has things of interest is creating more of a problem?

[JAMES SPEICHER]

**************************
I think the majority of rarity traffic is generated by eBird postings.
That said, I think it does no harm to remind people who are on this
listserver about best behavior from time to time. I would rarely want
to travel more than 20 miles to see these marvels, but I understand
the excitement of rare birds. Bad behavior like death and taxes will
always be with us, but attempting to correct poor behaviors in others
is worth undertaking...

Jim Speicher
BroadRun/Burkittsville area
[FR] Frederick County MD
M.O.S. member, Washington [WA] Co Chapter

[Dave Mitchell (Howard County)]

Be they true blue birders, or pale blue birder/photographers, trespassing is trespassing. The dirt bikers aren't pretending they're not.