Let’s start another of these threads- favourite Owls; 10 species, in my case all seen in the wild- 11. Okay, but I’m going to mention Long-whiskered Owlet even if it doesn’t make top 10, as the sighting was so brief; probably the steepest walk I have ever done in the dark! 10. Burrowing Owl; always charismatic 9. Hume’s Owl; real Israeli wilderness (and it took two trips to nail it!) 8. Buffy Fish Owl; seen from a night cruise in Borneo 7. Marsh Owl; flying over the marshes where the last Slender-billed Curlew were wintering 6. Barn Owl; always graceful and a pleasure to watch 5. Spectacled Owl; a wonderful pair on the Pipeline Road, Panama 4. Short-eared Owl; such a pleasure to have them wintering on the local marshes; mind you, the experience of watching them hunting storm petrels in the Galapagos while Bryde’s Whale breached in the background takes some beating! The top 3 show why Finland is so great for owls (and Ural, Pygmy, Eagle and Tengmalm’s don’t even make the list!) 3. Snowy owl; whether in a Lincolnshire field or on the Machair of the Outer Hebrides, spectacular, but at its best perched on a farm out-building in Finnish snow 2. Northern Hawk Owl at the nest and perching on top of scattered trees; such a unique shape 1 Great Grey Owl; best experience seeing three almost fully grown chicks at the nest with a parent in close attendance, and then, as we were leaving finding the other parent perched up on guard.
Hmm, let's see. Burrowing Owl Spectacled Owl Great Gray Owl Barn Owl Snowy Owl Crested Owl Northern Hawk Owl Verreaux's Eagle Owl Pel's Fishing Owl Northern Saw-whet Owl I've seen 7 of those, not all wild though.
Great Gray is my favorite I've seen in the wild. I got great views of one comically sitting on the top point of a Black Spruce. I had no idea they were so big.
Spectacled owl, barn owl, long-eared owl, great grey owl, burrowing owl, Pel's fishing owl, laughing owl, boobook owl, long-whiskered owlet, bay owl