Here's the story. Our father Barred Owl, Junior, was napping peacefully in his favorite Buckeye tree one June afternoon. He likes this tree because it has a sturdy horizontal limb next to the trunk for him to roost upon, and he is well hidden by the foliage. He can often be found in this tree, about 50 yards from Killbuck Creek.
His sleep was interrupted by the raucous call of a Cooper's Hawk that was flying up and down Killbuck Creek. Cooper's Hawks are mortal enemies of Barred Owls and will sometimes prey on them. Junior appeared to fly deliberately in the path of the hawk before landing on a large horizontal limb that was out over the creek. Here he is seen sitting on this limb. He is protected by a thick growth of wild grapevines that cover him from above and behind. He is almost in a "cave" of foliage with only one way for another large bird to get to him.
The hawk immediately landed on the bare branch in the foreground, about ten feet from Junior. It cawed and scolded and seemed to be trying to figure how to attack Junior without making a frontal assault. While the hawk was larger, those owl talons still demand respect and the hawk didn't have the courage for a frontal assault. The hawk left at the approach of the photographer and we weren't able to get a picture of it.
Junior remained safely in his "cave" for about ten minutes after the hawk left. We noticed the feathers around his neck were quivering, something we'd not seen before. He had stared death in the face and survived unscathed.
After he had recovered, he returned to his Buckeye tree, looking shaken and probably not ready to sleep again for a long time.
The question of the day is "Why did he put himself in harm's way?" He was perfectly safe, well hidden in the Buckeye tree. He didn't have to fly out over the creek and confront the hawk.
The best answer we can think of is that he has a baby in the vicinity. We have neither seen nor heard a baby owl yet, but we cannot think of any other explanation for this event. He was distracting the hawk before it could find his helpless baby owl. He is a brave and courageous father and has demonstrated this in past years.