One of the first rare birds I ever traveled to find was a Roadside Hawk in early 2010, in Texas.  

Yesterday, on a rural back road not far from here, I had a brief but wonderful encounter with a hawk. My dog and I were traveling slowly with the windows down. Suddenly, my windshield was filled with a flash of brown and a distinctive tail of black and white stripes. It was low and landing just beyond us. I stopped the car. I decided not to back up or get out. Instead, I slowly opened the door partway. I leaned out with binoculars and saw the bird just behind me.

Grabbing the camera from my backpack, I leaned out, hoping no cars were coming, and took a photo.

The bird was focused on something on the ground. As I shot a closeup, it lazily flew off behind us. Because of the car acting as a blind, it never got spooked.

It seems it was a Cooper’s Hawk. This is an example of the neat surprises we get when we least expect them.