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I agree Kathy, I too often pass comment. I don't believe that we "see it" in black and white - but what I believe is we know when it will work - with practice. Its contrasts, form shape - a strong graphical element. The composition too has to be spot on as there's less distractions. I would say 80% of my monos were destined to be that way when I press the shutter - but not always.
I don't really think about whether the shot would end up mono or colour when shooting.
I just look for something that interests me, try to get an interesting angle/comp and shoot the shot in the knowledge I can do mono or colour later.
Now when the shots on my screen looking back at me, I know instantly whether mono or colour will work best. Often both work, and I do have many pairs of shots.
I shoot 90% HDR these days and sometimes the colours can be a bit strange, so they often end up as mono 
What I find strange is that a lot of people say "does this look better in b/w" When will they get their head around the fact that b/w needs a different light than color, rare is the shot that looks great in both.I'm not getting at anyone in particular, just feeling a bit grumpy today!
As you might think I'm a member of the GRUMPY group as well.
Phill
Agree 100% Phil that good B&W needs a different quality of light.
I would say that it is very difficult to always visualise up front which will work. Sometimes for me it is a no brainer but often a mono image will evolve whilst processing.
When I used to shoot film (mostly mono) after a while I could see in monochrome but out of practice now and it is sometimes very difficult these days to decide at the capture stage.
Bill
Back in November 2010 when this thread was started only 8.6% of all the photos uploaded to photography gallery were black and white images, having a quick count up of uploads this week 11.4% are black and white.
I do lots of mono and it seems to be just as successful as my colour stuff (if "successful" is the right word 
). But I do agree with Ade (worrying!),
Quote: I think Nik Silver EFX should be a free plugin, then the mono would be a lot more accessible
although I do lots of conversions just using PS, which is sometimes easier and more versatile so a dedicated b/w plug-in isn't an absolute necessity.
I'm hoping to do more mono this year. I've gained lots of inspiration from some of our Eastern European contributors who produce some fantastic work so I'm going to diversify, hopefully, but only when the weather gets a bit warmer. 
PS: Oh no. Have I joined another bloomin' Group!!!
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