A barred owl perches on a rail outside Sandra Nile’s Essex Avenue home in Rumford on Thursday. The owl appeared to be sleeping and did not move until Nile got close to it about eight hours after discovering the bird was there. It flew a few yards to a neighboring building. “I wish he’d be back in the forest,” Nile said. “It’s too dangerous here in the residential area.” Rumford Falls Times photo by Marianne Hutchinson

A barred owl stands on steps outside a home on Essex Avenue in Rumford on Thursday. (Rumford Falls Times photo by Marianne Hutchinson)

Sandra Nile of Rumford watches as a barred owl flies from a rail outside her home on Essex Avenue on Thursday. (Rumford Falls Times photo by Marianne Hutchinson)