I would love to have more discussion type posts here! And I really enjoy reading these experiances.
My favorite experience is a rather simple one. I have only been birding for a few years now. In my first year of birding, I was along a stream-side path that I knew well, looking to see what birds I could find. Out of the bush beside me popped a white-starred robin, one of the cutest and most beautiful birds I had ever seen. It is a altitude migrant, where it moves to lower altitudes in the winter. It was obviously a colder winter than usual as they were usually found in that area.
The best part about it was how tame it was around we me, and I managed to get a bunch of pictures. I was able to bring my SO to the same area the following day and find it in the same place.