As trip leader Leon likes to point out, owling has more in common with fishing than birding. Sometimes the conditions are right, and the birds just don’t show.
We did get a good look at the physical evidence of Barn Owls at Loudoun County’s Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve—feathers, numerous pellets, whitewash, and a roost/nest box installed at the top of the first abandoned farm silo on the property—but no luck looking at birds. Stakeout spots for Bubo and Otus species didn’t pan out. We’ll get ’em next time.