O P E N S PA C E
where the wild things are
I
t’s a little bit scary. Okay, a lot
scary if you let your imagination
run wild. McKee-Besher’s Wild-
life Management Area is 2,000
acres of deep dark woods, open
fields, acres of both tree-covered
swamps and open marshes, narrow
gravel roads, and isolated trails,
all located in a rural section of
Montgomery County surrounded
by Seneca Creek State Park to the
east, and the Chesapeake & Ohio
Canal and the Potomac River on its
southern border.
McKee-Besher’s WMA is man-
aged by the Department of Natural
Resources and is situated in a rural
section of Montgomery County’s
Agricultural Reserve between River
Road and the Potomac River. This
isolated area is a hotbed for all
kinds of wildlife that thrives in the
clean waters and abundant forests,
It took years before I was brave
enough to enter Hunting Quarter
Rd, a narrow gravel road that runs
through some part of the area. I
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PLENTY I SUMMER GROWING 2019
envisioned that the area was only
meant for hunters with their pick-
up trucks, guns, and camouflaged
attire. Indeed, during hunting sea-
son, the area does serve the hunt-
ing population with an abundance
of deer, wild turkeys, ducks, and
other seasonal wildlife.
However, the acreage is not
just popular for hunting. The
land is open to the general public
year-round and offers access to
outdoor enthusiasts, birders, and
others who want to enjoy the flora
and fauna that is uniquely different
from any other part of the county.
My years of unabashed fear
evolved into unbridled enthusiasm
after a group of birding enthusi-
asts invited me to meet them at
the gravel parking area on Hunt-
ing Quarter Road for a morning of
bird-watching. The area, known as
Hughes Hollow is a popular spot
to find a wide variety of bird and
waterfowl species; some of which
reside in the area year-round,
STORY AND
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY SUSAN PETRO
while others migrate through in
the Spring and Fall. Many birds stay
to make Hughes Hollow their sum-
mer nesting ground To date, over
240 species of birds and waterfowl
have been documented on the
Ebirding website, an information
gathering page that is run by the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Today, barely a week goes
by where I don’t make multiple
trips to McKee-Besher’s to look
for the latest bird or wildlife find.
With each visit, I began to venture
further down the trails in search of
the next “first-timer”—a definition
for a jackpot find of a new bird in
my growing list of never to be seen
before birds. Who knew so many
colorful birds in shades of yellows,
greens, blues, reds, and oranges
can be found in our own backyard;