Hawk owls: this winter, so far, has been very poor (whatever a tour organiser may advertise) in central Sweden. However, there appears to be one (which I guess is enough), stationary for a month or so in Västmanland, SW of Sala. For up to date observations and maps, use Svalan. The exact directions are:
http://www.artportalen.se/birds/default.asp
Click on the Union Jack in the top right corner.
Select 'Show records' from the tool bar, then type 'hawk owl' where the dialog box says 'species name'.
Pull down 'Region' from the tool bar, then from 'report area' select 'Västmanland' (should also work from 'province', but the maps don't then work, for some reason).
The pull down 'Period', and select 'december' and '2006'. The line above with 'your choice' should reflect all of this. If not, click on 'update'.
Now pull down 'present records', then select 'zoomable map with sightings'. The resulting map can be zoomed by clicking on the boxes to the upper right. Choosing 'List of records' from 'present records' gives the full list of observations, with dates, times etc, and mostly intelligible with a map and without any Swedish. At the spot, look for a medium-sized lump on the top of any tree, stump, pole, pylon ...
Pygmy owls: these are not uncommon, but in January you may have to rely on spotting one, rather than hearing it calling. Check anything small and compact on top of a tree, especially near dusk/dawn. Svalan (as above, with appropriate variation for region, and species name) will give the latest. Fiby (see directions in earlier thread on 'sweden in winter') is a very good place for pygmy owls.
Best of luck ...
