From John Henson

Florida Owlets

This 2026 owl season, I finally achieved one of my goals, photographing all the locally resident wild owlets in their nests across Florida in a single season.

So for fun, I ranked all five from easiest to hardest to find:

  1. Burrowing Owl: ‘EASY’

Cape Coral, FL is the spot. Come during nesting season and you’ll see them everywhere. If you can’t find one… I don’t know what to tell you! 🤪

  1. Great Horned Owl: ‘MODERATE’

Visit any well known park in Florida and ask the right people, they’ll point you in the right direction. Hey, us photographers are actually pretty friendly… We share, especially when it’s someone else’s spot 😀

  1. Barred Owl: ‘MODERATELY DRAMATIC’

Now the drama begins. Be careful who you ask, some people go quiet if they don’t know you. Barred owl locations get whispered about like secrets, but once you find the spot, you’ll realize half the photography community is already 🤣

  1. Screech Owl: ‘HARD’

If you’ve got one in your backyard, you’re lucky. Otherwise, good luck to you! This one requires serious connections. You’ll see people posting amazing screech shots… but the location? “Private property” Yeah right! Give it a few weeks and everybody will be there! 🤪

  1. Barn Owl: ‘FORGET ABOUT IT’ (VERY HARD) In my opinion, the most secretive owl in Florida. Fully nocturnal, hidden away in random barns in the middle of nowhere. If someone shares a spot with you, that’s real friendship. 🤣

Classic line: “Don’t post your photos yet, people will figure it out.”

Me: "Don’t worry… my shot wasn’t even good anyway.

I know a lot of you can relate, owl season in Florida gets dramatic for us photographers.

Just to be clear… this is all in good fun 🤪

Gear: NikonUSA

Software: Affinity

Instagram: John Henson T.

  • Creativity@lemmy.zipEnglish
    2·
    7 days ago

    I’m surprised a screech owlet was easier to find than a barn owlet. Maybe Florida has less barn owl boxes.

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      7 days ago

      They mentioned them being inside the barns on private property while the screech was only private property, so they might have needed a more specific personal connection to find the Barnie.

      Barnie numbers globally are also not great, so location seems to really influence how difficult they are to find. We used to have them where I live, but the clinic head says she’s never got one in. She’s gotten the other rare owls for here (Long and Short Ears, and a Saw Whet), but no Barn owls that used to be pretty common.