Ohio here, these birds are not rare but they are surprisingly tricky to get. I was lucky to get a good location from the Ohio birding Discord this year and got a couple of nice snaps.
Is that from a feeder mic?
Picture taken 3/9 in Central Ohio. I was out to see the woodcocks at sunset, which I did, but it was too dark for pictures at that point. I did however get a couple of late-day pictures of calling Eastern Meadowlarks. Very nice colors. I am also getting used to my new camera, having upgraded from a Lumix G85 to an OM-1 mk ii. Also using new processing tools, PureRaw 6 & RapidRAW 1.5.1.
Sorry for the delay! Local naturalists who are familiar with the parks they support become familiar with owls that nest and hunt their parks. In my area that is the Metro Parks. Or you may have an Audubon Society in your town/area that uses expert birder members who are also familiar with where and when owls typically are. You are never guaranteed to see an owl on an owl walk, but if you are in the right place at the right time there is usually a very good chance you will hear their calls. And your guide will know where to look to increase your chance of seeing one. I participated in an owl walk in the fall where we heard a lot of calls but no sightings, but it was still extremely cool. Then sometimes you get to see one and that is also cool.
I noticed your post titles say (OC), what does that stand for/mean?
I don't understand why my picture isn't previewed/displayed.
According to the Metro Parks Naturalist, they don't like to do owl walks once it gets to I think she said nesting season, or maybe it was breeding season, I can't remember exactly, but the basic idea was that we try to do fewer things that might distress them or put them in stress. Then through the spring and summer they are usually raising babies, which can also be sensitive if bird watchers are all over them. For our local Metro Parks system and birding groups it seems like they only do organized owl walks from near the end of October until about the end of February.
Great Horned Owl, Plain City, Ohio 2/4/26
Jealous! Here in central Ohio we supposedly should get a few but confirmed sightings are basically nonexistent. EBird mods won't trust Merlin audio because they say Carolinas can mimic black-caps, and when you get something that has black-cap-looking markings they've said it "looks like a Carolina with some black-cap genes". I'd just like to get a confirmed black cap around here, I know we must get some. Great pictures.
There were two, they just wouldn't listen to me when I told them to swim next to each other :)
Central Ohio doesn't have any ocean or Great Lakes coast, but we do have some nice bodies of water for shore birds, gulls, and migrating ducks. We've had two eared grebes the past week-ish, unusual for our area. They're adorable!
Dublin, Ohio, we are getting a lot of migratory warblers and I am lucky enough to have a small wooded space near my house that I can lunch walk.
