Surprise in the woods-

Howdee all,

Took a muggy morning walk today..

I saw a large bird fly in front of me..my first thought was hawk..
I didn't expect to see an owl so close to the pathway.
See the owl in the above photo?
It flew there after initially landing in a tree directly above our heads..
Barred Owl

Jeff and I turned around and watched it fly to another nearby tree..

We watched it..

It watched us...
We didn't approach the owl..
I took a few more photos.

We then turned around and continued our walk..
We didn't see the owl on our return walk.
What a great surprise.
I hope it found a nice place to sleep away from the path.