Seems like would be kind of hard to mis-id a Snowy Owl even for a non-birder; I know some strange lighting can make it hard sometimes, but I am guessing if the observer thought it might be one that it most likely was.  This location (in VA) is directly across from Piscataway Park in PG County (and visible from either the new boardwalk there, or from the fishing pier at Colonial Farm Park - which is accessed from a different parking area).  This park could be a potentially good area for drawing the attention of a Snowy if it was traveling along the river, since it has some nice big open fields and generally does not have much disturbance.  Myself and several other birders have recently been looking there for a Northern Shrike reported at Piscataway near the boardwalk (reported on eBird, not MDOsprey, about ten days ago; to my knowledge the shrike has not been seen by anyone other than the original observer).

Its about a mile across the river, and if the Snowy flew to the MD shore there are several natural areas directly across the river from the VA location.  In addition to the 2 above-mentioned areas at Piscataway, there is also a large open area of semi-public land (known as Hard Bargain Farm), which is cooperatively managed between the NPS and private landowners.  This area is not open to the public but I think it may be accessed publicly if you get permission first, and can be easily reached from the boardwalk at Piscataway by continuing east past the end of the boardwalk.  There are large open ag fields there which can be viewed while walking along the river.  It is about a half mile walk from the parking area to these fields.

It is about time for a Snowy in MD now, they seem to be popping up widely elsewhere now.

Jeff Shenot
Croom MD

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