The best way to see owls is to go out without binoculars or camera. Well, not precisely — the best way to see owls is to go out without those things, having forgotten that going out without them is the 
best way to see owls, so you can be suitably distressed at not having the proper equipment.
Having met these criteria, I went walking in Seminary woods this afternoon and saw two Great Horned Owls hooting to one another in the top of a big bare tree. When they saw me watching one turned its back with an air of great disdain. The other hooted a few times in my direction, but in general I was of no interest to them. My sketch doesn’t come near the mysteriousness of owls in the dusk.
Great Horned owl by Tony Northrup at http://www.northrup.org/photos/great-horned-owl/
Searching the internet for better pictures of owls, I came upon this very Victorian fellow photographed by Tony Northrup. Doesn’t he belong in a steampunk novel? It’s the mustache.
