Saturday, Leta and I were on the way to the amphitheater at Hard Bargain Farm in Accokeek, Maryland to see a show. Dusk was approaching. As we pulled off Bryan Point Road into a lane in the woods, a mottled brown shape glided across our track, about four feet off the ground. Leta said, "What's that? It looks like a flying squirrel!" I saw a wingspan of about five feet, too big for an accipiter.

On effortless wings the bird glided to a tree about 15 yards away and perched up on a branch. It turned to look at us with huge psychotic eyes. No tufts visible at the head, and it was shockingly big. I said with quiet excitement, "That could be a Barred Owl," and a check of the field guides when we got home confirmed it.

Barred Owl (Strix varia) is not the first life bird that I saw solely from a moving car. The first was a Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) that zipped across Maryland 32 in Columbia in 1996.

posted: 9:09:40 AM