Around our home in the mountains of North Carolina, these spectacular animals are often heard but rarely seen. I was driving up our driveway late last night when I saw what I thought was a rabbit in the middle of the road. I got out to check and was astonished to get such a close up view of this magnificent bird. He/she was about 8 inches tall and sat motionless in the glow of my headlights. We exchanged eye contact for a few seconds and then it flew off silently with a large grasshopper in its beak. I was lucky to snap off one photo with my iPhone 12.