Owl, or maybe a Hawk

Had an unusual visitor today in our neighbor's tree. The tree is a great old maple that lost its central trunk from about 25 feet up, but the surrounding branches fill out and up to about 50 feet or more.

We've had gusty wind all day, up to 60 mph they say, so I went out to see if any branches were down. I looked up into the maple, and the thought crosses my mind, "Did someone put a fake owl up there? How did they get it up there .. oh, wait, it's a real owl."

It was a classic brown owl in the classic owl perch position. I couldn't tell you the species, but it was about 14 inches tall or more. Its little head kept scanning back and forth, for lunch, I suppose.

I find this unusual because I live in the middle of the city. Sure we're called the "Forest City" sometimes, but still, I had never seen an owl in the city, except that old guy in the Boston Museum of Science, and that doesn't count, and he's gone now anyway.

So it was kind of neat. Unfortunately the branch he was on can't be seen from the house and it started raining, so all I got was the one look. I'll have to keep checking back to see if he takes up residency. Maybe he can help with the pigeons.

Update: I now think it may have been a hawk, perhaps a rough-legged hawk down from the north for the winter.