I've seen a Snowy Owl only once - many years ago, on the television antenna of the house across the street from us in Wisconsin. It's a sight I'll never forget, like the first time I ever saw a Bald Eagle, swooping down over my canoe on the Wolf River in Northern Wisconsin.
I have to say my first (and only) California Condor was a disappointment. There it was, one of the biggest birds in the world, sitting on the same damn branch for an hour and never giving me a chance to see its magnificent wingspread.