Just a humble request from someone who has no right to tell anyone else what to do but who does (like all of us) care about wildlife. Please, if you do find this (or any other) owl, maintain a respectful distance! I'm an occasional volunteer at N.Chagrin and I've heard quite a bit about others' sightings of this particular Barred---and seen it myself a few times (in and near the areas previously mentioned---it doesn't seem to stray far for its daytime roosts). For whatever reason, it tends to roost low in open areas rather than high up in dense pines (not that that makes it so much easier to find). And it doesn't flush as easily as other Barreds do. From what I've heard, this owl's tolerance for people is emboldening some (especially those with cameras---and especially those with cell phone cameras lacking zoom) to approach *way *too closely, passing the owl's tolerance-limit. Once it flushes, it's likely to burn a lot of unnecessary energy trying to find a new, secluded roosting spot---and it's not simply a matter of picking a new tree: crows and other small birds are very likely to see it while it searches and are going to mob it everywhere it attempts to rest. Next thing you know the poor owl's wasting way too much time and calories looking for a place to sleep. Eventually it's going to give up on this spot altogether; you'll have needlessly stressed the owl and deprived other birders of the chance to see it in a reliable location. If you're fortunate enough to find this owl, please don't overestimate its tolerance of you---my sense of it is that anything under 30 feet is pressing your luck. And once it senses that you're focused on it, it's going to become very alert to your presence---just firing a flash may send it off. If you stumble upon it at close range, please just back off before you start photographing. If this is a life bird for you, or if you just have a hankering to see a Barred, there are other spots where they're even more reliable and can be observed very easily from a respectful distance with no risk of flushing them. (I'll be happy to provide details off-list.) Respectfully, Noah ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]