OK....check this out!! Yesterday, near twilight, I saw a huge bird circle in the back yard. At first I thought it was a hawk but it was a Barred Owl!! It landed on the pole that holds our bird feeders and it was awesome.
I have to say that it was quite amazing. As you can see from this picture, they are quite large. Acutally they are nearly 2 ft. in length. I was quite fascinated as I watched it turn it's head from side to side and then look right at me! I took as many pictures as I could. After a couple of minutes of perching here, it went over and sat on the top of the pergola for a bit and then flew away. It was a wonderful experience to see this large bird close up.
I'll be watching to see if it comes back to visit any time soon.