I've been lucky to see several species in my life. My favorite experiences are: When about 11 or 12 we discovered a hole in an apple tree on my Aunt's farm. We peered inside and there was a screech owl peering back at us. Living in the Midwest my whole life I never observed a barn owl. Until a few years ago while driving back from Volcanoes National Park on Rt200 on the big island Hawaii. There in the headlights we observed a barn owl. Of all places, that was the last place I expected that. Finally, while hunting ducks hunkered down amongst tall grass along a stream near the end of the day, several short eared owls appeared. They would dive and swoop, sometimes getting quite close if I happened to move my head or hands. Really wished I brought my camera. I've also observed Great Horned, Barred and Burrowing owls.

Great horned owls are the owl we see most commonly in Indiana.  A couple of years ago one would sit in the large silver maple in our front yard.  Early one morning he was sitting on the ground.  When I got my camera to take his picture I realized our black cat was sitting a few feet away.  I'm not sure who was more scared of the other.  The owl flew off.  Later there was a commotion in our swamp.  Various birds and especially our resident Cooper's hawk were mobbing the owl who was sitting on a downed tree.  He did not have a good day!

I have seen a great horned owl on a nest near Prime Hook Delaware. I knew the nest was there and stopped by repeatedly with a spotting scope. Have seen Spotted owls at dusk along a marshy area. What beautiful flyers they were. A snowy owl was camped out at beach near my home in Delaware. I got a really good look at it once. I saw a really big grey owl just at dark. It was in flight and shot by about 15 feet off the ground. I don’t know what it was but it was magnificent I hear screech owls and “hoot” owls regularly, have never seen them. That is my total lifetime owl experience and I am 72.

Had this beauty all winter.

I've seen, and heard a Great Horned Owl many times over the years in both flight and perched in our 450-year-old oak tree for one, and hear a pair hooting back and forth from my bed in the early morning hours.  I live in the woods, 100 yards from a large pond in the Litchfield Hills of CT. I am also about five miles from the Sharon Audubon where they have several resident owls in their aviary.  I love to go and watch them.

I've seen barred owls in Ohio and long eared owls in Indiana. Owls

There's a Great Horned Owl that sleeps in a neighbors palm tree most days of the week. Sometimes we will hear them hooting at night when they take off to hunt. I love sitting in my kitchen, sipping coffee and looking at the beautiful owl! (New Mexico)

I DIDN'T KNOW MOST OF THE PICTURES BUT I LOVED LEARNING ABOUT THEM

Yes, we've visited the Raptor's Trust in NJ several times and have seen owls that can't be released because of a permanent injury.  Once we went to the trust and there was a visiting horned owl on a tree outside the horned owl enclosure, We went on a moonlight walk with the NJ Conservation Foundation and the naturalist was able to find a small owl, maybe a saw whet or screetch owl in a tree nearby.

I forgot to mention a Great Gray Owl which was a rare visitor to Jefferson County in Northern New York several years ago. I will never forget the thrill of seeing that Owl!

I have seen a Great Horned Owl in Syracuse, a Snowy Owl this winter near Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, a Barred Owl several times while camping in Ontario, Canada ( one time with chicks in a nesting hole high up a dead tree) and an Eastern Screech Owl several times as they nest very close to our house which borders a heavily wooded city park in Syracuse.

Great horned ans have heard a screech owl but have never seen one

Juvenile Eastern Screech-Owl, Central Wisconsin, Summer 2021.

I live in Wisconsin. During the winter 03-04 irruption of Great Grays and Snowys, I took a couple of days off and drove up to Superior, WI where there had been numerous GGO sightings. I spent many hours of driving around the area, both shoreline and back roads. Turned onto a deserted back road south of town when up ahead I could see a large object sitting on a powerline. No doubt a Great Gray Owl! I watched at a distance from my car so as not to spook it and was simply amazed at the sheer bulk of this owl. Beautiful bird! Once I stepped out of my vehicle to attempt some photos but since I was in the wide open of the deserted road, he flew back into the trees. Did not get much in the way of decent photos but the experience alone made the trip worth it!

We have a good size barred owl population around our home in Central Maine and we have heard them and seen them for years. Last late summer some were screeching outside in the evening and we went out to see two 1/2 grown chicks making all kinds of noise over our compost pile. We could hear an adult at a distance and they were communicating. I have also seen saw whet and Great horned owls near here. Last summer I heard a Great Horned owl at my son's home in Mid-coast Maine and later that week we found a feather of that owl in the vegetable garden. On a trip to Patagonia years ago I saw a Rufous Legged Owl.

Burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia), which we call Lechucita de Campo, are fairly common in Uruguay and we often see them in fields or even on sand dunes or abandoned structures by the sea.

This is a Ñacurutú (Bubo virginianus, Great Horned Owl) which we saw in Tacuarembó department, Uruguay. It was perched on the edge of a eucaliptus grove, close to a highway. In the afternoon heat the owl barely moved and was difficult to see.

When I lived in Northern New Jersey, USA, I'd walk paths along the Saddle River and a few times at dusk encountered Great Horned Owls perched about 15'+ above the path in trees.  Once I heard two owls calling to one another from either sides of the river.  And once I had a "conversation" with a Great Horned--I'd make owl-like calls and it would look down at me and stare!  Wonderful encounters.

These guys were watching eat in the patio last summer!

In our neighborhood in Raleigh, I mostly hear owls. I’ve seen some, including a beautiful pair of screech owls that lived in a tree next to the lodge where we were staying in Costa Rica. But here the barred owls are just a lovely night-time sound—I rarely see them. Our neighborhood has a large supply of chipmunks and other critters to keep them happy. Sometimes I  hear several owls, calling back and forth to each other, and sometimes changing their calls or getting very excited. I wonder what they are saying! The photo below is one of the screech owls I saw in Costa Rica.

For several years we had a pair of Barred Owls nesting in an old tree cavity near my home. It was wonderful seeing the fluffy owlets each year poke their heads out of the hole. Unfortunately they stopped returning after a territorial fight with some red shoulder hawks.

Yes. I have seen and heard many Great Horned Owls. They perch high in old Cottonwood trees hooting back and forth between a pair of them. I have seen two pairs in an evening, in different areas along my nightly walks.

We saw a beautiful snowy owl on Plum Island in Massachusetts recently!

I have seen Barred Owls in Murrells Inset, SC and Jackson, SC.

I have seen two Great Horned Owls and one Eastern Screech Owl in the wild. I'm in the lower Hudson Valley of NY.  The Screech Owl was sitting on my driveway railing when I pulled in one night and stayed there even when I parked next to it. It only flew away when my door accidentally hit the railing (oops). Since then, I've heard at least one in the backyard every month or so.