Check out this spectacular visitor to my back yard over the weekend.

He first dropped in late Friday afternoon, his arrival announced by a flurry of irritable crows and bluejays squawking and bouncing about. When he showed up again on Saturday, he had an even crankier antagonist — a very large red-tailed hawk. I couldn’t get a photograph of the two of them on Saturday, but I did get the owl’s initial visit on Friday.

He might look a little creepy, but isn’t he kinda great?

He was twitchy and paranoid, always watching for the other birds who didn’t want him around.

The crows eventually had him backed into some thick brush. Am I the only one who has never seen an owl’s profile? Doesn’t he kind of look like a cartoon character who flew into something face-first and got flattened?

He wasn’t crazy about me either, but he allowed me to get a few photos before I left him to fend off the neighborhood bullies.

I’m hopeful he has a family nearby and we’ll be seeing more of him soon.