The owl is real

Last night a neighbor posted a photo on our neighborhood email group of an owl that landed on her outside deck. At first she thought it was injured or sick because it just sat there looking at her. She was fortunate enough to snap this photo. I tried to enlarge it in photoshop, but it just blurred. Her picture/email spurred many email exchanges from neighbors who have listening to the owls all summer and fall. One neighbor says her 2 year old daughter was so enchanted by the sounds of the owl that she wants to be an owl for Halloween. Looking at the owl's face, now I know why they say, "wise, OLD owl". The face looks like an old man. We have some neighbors who are real birders and the concensus is that this is a Barred Owl. I think I'll name it Nicky.