I probably saw my first short-eared owl long before I identified one.
Seen on the wing, it's easy to mistake a short-eared owl for the more commonly seen northern harrier. Harriers look a little owlish in the face, and they hunt with similar styles and for similar prey.
I finally ID'ed my first short ear at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in the last days of 2006. It was late in the evening and I was finishing up the auto tour and about to head home when a short ear flew in front of me with a rodent in its talons. It landed beside the road and seemed to disappear in the brush. I relocated it but it soon took flight again to get farther from the road.
My next visit to the refuge produced more owls, they were sitting on some of the signs on the auto tour in between their forays into the large fields to hunt. The light wasn't the best as you can see from the skies, but it was fun to be able to see these hunters from such a close vantage point.
And up close like this, there's no confusion between owl or harrier, the big yellow eyes alone are a give-away.