While everyone should advocate (and practice) caution when observing
uncommon birds, it sounds as if there is a bit of gun-jumping here.  Let
me quote from the MD breeding bird atlas (1980s version) entry on
Long-eared Owls

The eastern breeding range of the Long-eared Owl extends SOUTH to
Pennsylvania and IN THE MOUNTAINS to western Virginia.  There are
approximately ten breeding records for Maryland and one for DC, most
from the 1890's and NONE since 1950.

With the warming environment, it is unlikely that a northern species is
extending its range to the south and/or to lower altitude.  Even though
most Long-eared Owls do not wander far from their breeding territories,
ALL of the Long-eared Owls found south of their range do.  To summarize,
these birds are wintering, not breeding (although I would be
disappointed if someone did not check the area during the summer, just
to be sure).

And finally

> An interesting point you make! I had not thought of this possibility, but I 
> had been wondering why this rare pair had been exempted from what I thought 
> was a list rule banning such reports.

I should probably let Norm comment on list rules but the real problem is
wide-spread publishing of *directions* to roosting owls which can result
in hordes of people who don't know what they are doing tramping through
the area destroying the roost site.  While I do not know what happened
in Carroll County since I did not take Bob up on his kind offer to show
me these birds (I prefer to find my own owls and I didn't want to add to
the crowd no matter how small the disturbance), I do know Bob and
reading the reports published on MDOsprey, it sounds to me like he
handled the situation very well -- taking in groups so he could control
behavior and maintaining enough distance to be sure the birds did not
flush even though the distance made use of a scope necessary for a good
view.

I don't see any wrongdoing here.  No one should feel guilty about having
visited these Owls.  And most importantly, it is good to hear such
concern for the owls' well being.

Dave
-- 
David Mozurkewich
Seabrook, PG MD
mozurk at bell atlantic dot net