Curious

I kinda sorta promised myself I wasn't going to post anything else this weekend...but...
Took the dawg out for a walk about 6 my time. As I was approaching my yard. I heard blue jays raising some serious hell up in a tree. Turned around to look...then did a double take. This guy was sitting about 15 up in the tree looking at me!
Needless to say, I eased (quickly!) into the house and grabbed my camera. As I approached and fired off a half dozen shots in the rotten light, the owl took flight. (I shall refrain from sharing the expletives I uttered, for I am ashamed!)
Luckily, he landed in the wooded lot next door, just up higher. As luck would have it, I was shooting right up into the sky...never a good thing.
After shooting several frames like that, I backed away slowly and headed inside to quickly grab my flash. Didn't really want the artificial light, but no choice if I wanted to capture a decent shot of this spectacular bird.
While shooting, the neighbors came out to get a glimpse. Consensus was that he was at least 24 inches high.
I would have certainly liked a naturally-lit photo...but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
(UPDATE: With the help of the folks at the local Audubon Society chapter, found out this is a Barred Owl. They said the ID was easy!)

Full view recommended!