Barred Owl Stare

When I was hiking through the woods I luckily noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye. There, staring at me was a beautiful barred owl perched in amongst the trees. It blended in nicely with the wet tree bark and if it had not have moved, I probably would have walked right on by. Other than a few side to side glances, it stared directly at me for the duration of our interaction...or rather stared right through me with those black eyes.