I had never seen an owl in real life until about two weeks ago. I was out for my daily evening walk when something flew across the road directly in front of me.  It looked a bit too large to be a bird, plus it was dark.  Very carefully, I approached the tree where I thought it might have landed and sure enough, it was a small owl (front facing eyes, ear tufts, about 7 inches tall). Could it have been an Eastern Screech?  I was thrilled!!  Wish I’d had my binoculars with me.

I was at a cottage in Healey Lake, Ontario, Canada and I saw an Eastern Screech Owl. I also heard one when I was at the Maitland, a river in Ontario. I couldn't get a clear photo of either because the first was during sunrise and it was shadowed, and I never saw the second.

A Snowy Owl in March11, 2021 at Finger Lakes Regional Airport in Seneca Falls, NY. Photo by Cindy Massicci, Ithaca, NY  

I have never seen an owl in the wild.  I live in New York City - and there is/was a Snowy Owl in Central Park this winter (Jan 2021).  There was tremendous fuss over it - which is ignored - now i am sort of eager to go see this Snowy Owl now that i realize how special this occasion is.

This winter has been a great one for owls around Montreal. Since January 1st, I managed to see all the species that can be find around here. Snowy owls are regular around here in winter. The Great gray owl has be seen twice this year (one for me) which happens one out of four years or so. I saw also two Northern Hawk Owl (rare), one Boreal Owl (rare), one Northern Saw-whet Owl and one Long-eared Owl (regular but unfrequent), 8 Short-eared Owl (abundant this year) and the residents: Eastern-Screech, Barred and Great-horned Owls. A very good winter!

I have been lucky to see Short-eared Owls hunting/flying low over a meadow at dusk ... an Eastern Screech Owl nesting ... Great Horned owls twice, once nesting ... and another time, a family group of 2 adults and a fledgling near a nest ... and quite a few Barred Owls, which seem to be fairly prevalent in the mid-Atlantic where I live.

I was able to visit a Raptor Wildlife Rehabilitation Center back in November 2020. I do wildlife photography on the side so getting to see these owls who were in situations where they were unable to released back in the wild was really inspiring. Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, and the Eastern Screech Owl red morph. In the wild, I saw my first Great Horned Owl nest in May 2020 which was so special, but I've seen/heard them a couple times around dusk. In December 2020 I saw my first Short-eared Owl. Three were hanging around the local airport and they were so stunning to see! My first owl sighting ever was actually on accident! I was on a drive by the beach in July and there happened to be a male snowy owl on chimney. I thought it was fake until I saw all the birders around and it turned its head and looked at me! 2014, and it really helped me get into photography. This past January I was able to see one Snowy owl a few times and she has such a happy almost comical looking face. However, in early January, I had stopped for a red-tailed hawk who was eating a small rodent on a pole. Out of nowhere this Snowy Owl flies in and steals it. Swallows it whole! What she didn't realize, is that there was a pair of red-tailed hawks. They started diving in an attempt to get it away and no one else was around! Just my mom and I and I have to say it was so amazing and shocking because it was within 50 ft of where I stood! I couldn't ask for a more special moment and I'll treasure it always.

The first night we spent in our new house, my husband heard the hooting of an owl.  We turned out the lights and looked out the bedroom window to see the silhouette of 2 great horned owls on the branch outside our window.  We never saw them again.  It was a lovely welcome to the new neighborhood. Another dramatic sighting occurred as we sat on our porch on a summer evening, waiting to watch a lunar eclipse.  As the sky held onto the last of the day light, an owl came and perched at the very top of one of the pine trees in our yard.  An owl and a lunar eclipse in one night!  Such an event inspires the search for meaning.  I settled on simply acknowledging that the universe is filled with awesome wonders and we are fortunate to be a part of it.

I absolutely love seeing everyones photos!!  Here is my first time seeing a Snowy Owl. It was at Sachuset Point in RI. Then this little adorable Sawhet was at a owl banding workshop. She was the only one they got that night and she was beautiful.

I love owls so much!! They are so graceful and captivating!! I have seen Great-Horned, Barred, Sawhet, Screech and Snowy Owls in my birding career and look forward to seeing more. Probably my favorite is the Snowy as they are pretty rare in my area. Also the Barred Owl is a long time favorite. I can actually make a pretty convincing Barred Owl call and once called a curious one into my yard. Looking forward to more owl adventuring!!

My desire to see an owl began with reading Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen to my children.  It’s been fulfilled in my neighborhood wanderings in the suburbs of Albany, NY:  a pair of Great Horned; a trio of baby Saw Whets; a Barred Owl.  We hear a Screech Owl in the dark of early morning, but have never seen one.   To anyone who has any association with young children, I recommend reading Owl Moon with them.

In college there was an Eastern Screech-owl I loved to go watch. All the local birders knew exactly where it lived, a common phrase was "I wonder if the owl's in today!". Check it out! (2015 Wildwood Park, Bridgewater, VA) - Cory Leigh Rahman

I have seen Burrowing Owls, Great Horned Owls, an Eastern Screech Owl, Barred Owls, Short-eared Owl, and a Long-eared Owl so far in my birding career.

My Great Grandpa, Uncle, and I were backpacking in Idaho by the Soldier Lakes. We were building a fire when my uncle suddenly said, "Look there's an owl under that tree!" We looked and on one of low hanging branches of a pine tree, I saw it: A cute little boreal owl. He was very calm, and let us observe him for quite awhile. We were even able to get several pictures!

I have seen 14 owls overall.  Four were seen in Panama. I have seen all eight available in my adopted home state of Ohio.  I also have seen a Great Gray Owl in Alaska, and a Burrowing Owl in California.  My favorite Owl observation came in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in February of 2015, my big year(287 species).  A fellow(Ron?) from San Antonio(originally Oklahoma) showed me around all day.  When he retired for the day I wanted to go around on my own.  I did not quit until the issue was forced by darkness.  In my last moments birding that day an owl flew right by me and landed in a tree a little above and about ten feet from my head.  I think there were some walkway lights lending just enough light to clearly identify this bird as a gray morph Eastern Screech-Owl.  This capped a grande day indeed.

I recently saw a Barred Owl, which has been discussed in the course a bit, in my backyard.  It was trying to catch a squirrel, around mid-day, and it sat on my back fence for quite a few minutes, enough to get some not-very-good photos of it, one of which I've inserted below.  The experience convinced me to invest in a new camera with a zoom lens so that I could get better photos of birds.  Unfortunately, I have not yet seen that owl again, but it was very exciting to see it for those few minutes.  I had heard its call several times in the last year, but that was first time I had seen it.

I found a Northern Boobook(Ninox japonica) in China. And I noticed how long the tail for a boobook!

We have had great horned owls nest in a cliff wall accross the street from our house the last 2 years. They came out and sat by the opening of the nest for a week or 2, staring at my chicken coop. Sure enough, this was the owls fledgling flight, it flew in to the chicken run then couldn't get out. Quite an ordeal!

I found a medium sized owl with his wing entangled in a barbed wire fence on 1-8-21.   He had ear tuffs and was a mottled grey/brown.   I approached him and he fluffed up and turned his head and looked at me with the biggest eyes Ive ever seen.   I gathered my supplies then covered him with a bath towel.   I was able to cut his wing loose.  It didn't bleed, I just cut one feather and some down.  He flopped backward with both wings extended.   I tried touching his feet with a stick , hoping he would release the wire but he didn't.    I went on with running my dogs and when I returned in about 10 minutes he was sitting upright on the strand of wire.   He was a bit wobbly but still hanging on.   I called my husband who was working at the barn to come and see.   I was surprised how scared he was of the owl and told me how dangerous he was.    I left for about 1 hour and when I returned he was gone!   I love birding and have always counted it a blessing to see an owl.   Now when I run my dogs I wonder where he is and if he is watching.   Nice to share this story with other bird lovers.   My grandkids love my crazy adventures.    It was a nice blessing during a perilous time.  I saved the feather

I saw this Barred Owl in a nearby state park.  I went back several times during the next two or three weeks and he was in the exact same spot.  Once he was gone, I never saw him again.

I live just a few blocks from the UW-Madison campus (40, 000 + students). It's a very old neighborhood with lots of old trees. There's a huge Blue Spruce in our terrace. One summer afternoon I was watering my window boxes when something flew onto a lower branch of the spruce (10 ft up). I guess it surprised me because it was a silent flier, not like the crows in our neighborhood. Turns out it was the an absolutely adorable Saw-Whet Owl. It sat there for several minutes--long enough to get my husband and daughters out to see him. A beautiful memory. We also hear Great Horned owls, especially on very cold, still nights. I haven't been brave enough to bundle up and look for them.

I think one of the most memorable times I saw an owl was at a graveyard the day after my grandmother passed away. It was a Snowy, perched on a post overlooking the graveyard...not only was the bird beautiful-but as owl are considered to be psychopomps in some lore...a meaningful sighting as well.

I hear barred owls regularly where I live just south of Dayton, OH, but alas, I’ve yet to see them. I did see great horned owls just outside Gardiner, MT during a teacher fellowship at Yellowstone National Park in April 2019. We heard them outside the hostel where we were staying a couple of nights in a row, then someone spotted one of them in a tree near the hostel and we all got a good look. I loved hearing them calling to each other in the night.

I've not seen an owl in the wild but that is one of my goals in taking this class. I often hear owls in the trees around my house after dark or sometimes at the park around dusk. I live outside of Allentown, PA. After listening to some of the owls in this lesson, I'm fairly certain that the owls I hear around are great horned owls.

The first owl I saw in real life was a Barred Owl. I was birding in a park favorited by joggers and trail runners. Two joggers went past me early in the morning then from behind I heard a scream. I turned to see a barred owl flying up from the head of one of the joggers as they continued on. I had to move a bit to get the owl in my binoculars at which point it swooped at me as well. As cool as it was to see it in flight, and head on, when I realized it was coming in for the attack I was quite scared. I managed to get a picture after that and was swooped two more times in the process. At that point I realized that this was one angry owl and decided it was best that I high tail it out of there!