Without a doubt, the juvenile saw-whet owl was the highlight of 2018. You can be birding for decades and not see one of these young owlets in the wild.
A summer snowy owl was a treat. So was a northern hawk owl and great gray owl in early 2018. The white-winged dove is a rarity for our region and the male King Eider in breeding plumage was an awesome bird to see in person (no photo).