I was lucky enough to see 2 Great-horned Owls and 2 Barn Owls while I was paddle boarding in Northern Utah last weekend.  The alarm calls of mobbing robins and chickadees alerted me to the presence of the first owl, an adult Great-horned,  concealed deep in a juniper tree about 4 feet off the ground.  A little further downstream I spotted a strange large pale shape in another juniper tree.  It looked like a plastic bag, but it was another Great-horned owl.  This time a fledgling.  It stretched its neck up and bobbed its head around to get a better look at me and then flew off.  When I paddled back upstream 2 hours later I could still hear the chickadees and robins mobbing.  I was looking around for the fledgling, but saw a different owl in the same area, an adult Barn Owl.  It too flew off after watching me and then I spotted a second Barn Owl.  The original adult Great-horned was still in the same tree getting mobbed.  It seemed like maybe it was drawing fire for the other owls as the little birds didn't pay any attention to them.  I have never gotten such good looks at Barn Owls.  Felt like I was as Hogwarts!

I live in central Texas in the United States. We have four types of owls in our immediate area: Great Horned (probably the most common), Barn, Barred and Eastern Screech.  I heard a Great Horned Owl while birding yesterday in a wetland park. Here is a photo of a Barred Owl I took at that same park several years ago.

I had a Great Horned Owl perch regularly on a dead tree at the opening of a bamboo cluster.  It was a regular visitor for about 5 years.  I would stand near the dead tree and we would just look at each other.  How lucky was I. The bamboo had to be removed and the owl moved on.  I still hear the call of a Great Horned Owl in the woods behind my house and sometimes see a big owl glide thru the trees.  Maybe the owl still lives near me.

I saw a snowy owl in the Meadowlands in NJ one winter (must have been an irruption year). Other than that, I saw a Great Horned Owl at a Rehabilitation facility, and some Owls from Temple University in Philadelphia (Temple's mascot = an owl).

Yes! I've seen Barn Owls, Great-horned, and Ferruginous Pygmy Owls :)

Great Horned Owls, Eastern Screach Owl & Snowy Owl

Yes ! Whenever I am leading a birding tours, I always go for owling even during a daylight. That is one of my productive way of birding and no wonder owls are fascinating creatures. This picture of African Scops-owl (Otus senegalensis) was digi scoped with my cellphone down in Rift Valley part of Ethiopia in the daylight.

2/21/24 2:39 pmWhen I was preteen some birder friends with large acreage would show us various birds when we visited them. Once Harry showed us a fairly developed owlet that he took from the nest and then replaced. He was wearing heavy leather gloves. About five years ago our family was visiting in Edinburgh, Scotland, where naturalists had two rescued owls outside of a Scottish National Heritage shop. For five pounds you could hold the largest European owl (Great Grey, maybe). I was able to stroke its breast feathers - so soft! And had my picture taken with it, a highlight of my trip. It was both educational & a fund raiser for the bird group. In Seattle, where I currently live I have seen Barn Owls once in one park and fairly large owlets in another park.  When I lived in Spokane, WA, a friend called me about a barred owl that had caught a squirrel in a nearby park and was enjoying it's meal, mid-afternoon, in a tree in her front yard.  The tale of the squirel can be seen arcing to the left of the owl.

When I was preteen some birder friends with large acreage would show us various birds when we visited them. Once Harry showed os a fairly developed owlet that he took from the nest and replaced. He was wearing heavy leather gloves. About five years ago our family was visiting in Edinburgh Scotland where naturalists had two rescued owls outside of a Scottish National Heritage shop. For five pounds you could hold the largest European owl (Great Grey, maybe). I was able to stroke its breast feathers - so soft! And had my picture taken with it, a highlight of my trip. It was both educational & a fund raiser for the bird group.

I got to see a Snowy Owl in the wild in Kaktovik, Alaska. I didn't get a good photo of it but it was thrilling to know I saw one.

I saw several great grey owls one winter a couple years ago when they came out of the boreal forest into the more open wooded areas in central Saskatchewan. That was on a nature society field trip. I also saw a great grey perched on a fence pole with a small mammal in his mouth in late summer in Alberta. Completely by chance. What luck! I even happened to have my camera with me and I watched him swallow that mammal through the zoom lens, while also getting a couple photos. Amazing! The person who lived there said there was a family raising young on the property. I came upon a great horned owl perched on a branch during the day one summer. I saw a few northern saw whet owls when I visited a banding station in Saskatchewan. So adorable!

I have seen Short eared owls hunting at dusk, a Snowy Owl and Great Horned Owls nesting, all in Upstate New York. Hope to see many more.

I've seen two owl species in the wild: Short eared owl in the summer in Iceland - I watched one hunt for 30 minutes in the evening. Temperatures were in the 60's. I've also watched short eared owls in the winter in Cincinnati, OH where I live. They come out about 30 minutes before sunset and hunt. Temperatures in December and January are 25-35. Much colder!! This owl is a very active hunter, flying and diving for prey and staying in the air for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. The other owl is the barred owl in the summer in Cincinnati, OH. I watched the same individual owl hunt in a local park on 3 separate days this past summer. The bird would start hunting about 1 hour before sunset. In one hour this bird would catch 3 to 5 mice. The hunting is very slow paced. The bird sits still on a low branch and slowly flight down on a mouse when it sees or hears one. During one hour, the bird sits still for 55 minutes, and flys for 5 minutes. It was amazing to watch this bird!!  

My husband and I saw a barred owl this past summer. We spotted him because he was being attacked by blue jays at dusk. He flew right in front of us and didn't make a sound. It was amazing.

I have seen in owl in real life and it has been one featured in this course so far. I have seen a barred owl with my grandfather in my backyard. It was super cool to see one in person as owls are birds that are harder to see than others. The beauty and size of the bird was absolutely amazing to me and it is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.

Yes! I've been lucky enough to have several sightings of Snowy owls but not for a couple years. I regularly go out to look for Barred and Great Horned Owls and have been reasonably successful in terms of sightings. The vast majority of the time though, I can only hear them, which is still really cool. We're also fortunate enough to hear a screech owl in our backyard on occasion but only one at a time. I've been able to see the individuals fly only a couple of times!

I regularly see and hear Great Horned Owls and Screech Owls and I have seen a Barn Owl that an acquaintance has in captivity. Its feathers are incredibly striking.

Great picture!

Years ago I saw a great horned owl at the edge of a lake in northern British Columbia. I also once saw a Pygmy owl and last year heard a northern saw whet owl. Short eared owls are abundant here in Juneau, Alaska where I live and I see them regularly at dusk or dawn. I don’t have any pictures to share, sorry!

I live in Parksville on Vancouver Island in BC. I have seen two Barred owls over the past several months in two different locations and a nesting Great Horned owls with chicks. In the late 1970's I lived in Churchill Falls, Labrador and was fortunate to have seen several Snowy owls. On one occasion I shot a Ptarmigan, that was about 50 meters away. Before I could walk through the deep snow to retrieve the Ptarmigan, a Snowy owl swooped down and attempted to grab the dead bird. Fortunately, I was able to recover the Ptarmigan which contained lead shotgun pellets - not a good diet for owls.

Well I've seen 6 species of owls. Snowy, Great Horned, Barred, Short Eared, Long Eared and Saw Whet. I once saw a Saw Whet catch a mouse. That was interesting. Long Eared seem to go through here NS - on migration in December. Christmas Tree fields are a good place to see them hunt. Christmas fields is where the trees are grown - not to be confused with lots where trees are sold. I have not seen any reference to Saw Whets or Long Eared in the course so far.

I have seen two Great Horned Owls and one Barn Owl in the wild. One of the Great Horned Owls and the Barn Owl were seen on different days at my favorite hiking areas as they were sleeping in pine trees. The second Great Horned Owl was seen near my home sleeping in a tree. I haven't seen an owl recently, but I still see white washing and pellets or hear the owls at night.

I have seen a family of Great Horned Owls that nest most years in a park nearby where I live in London Ontario. I have seen the owlets - so cute!! I have heard a Barred Owl a few times, usually at my cottage or when camping. And I've heard a screech owl in a nearby neighbourhood. But I wanted to take this course to learn where I might see owls and learn where to look for them camouflaged in their trees, or where to look to identify their nests.