A Quiet and Stormy Day

I realize my photography skills are lacking, but it is pouring rain outside.  This really was the best shot I could get of Alfred.  Katie isn't feeling well.  Two days of being on the edge of sick.  We stayed home today.  As we were eating our cup 'o soup, we heard the birds in the forest going nuts.  Strange, we thought, since it was pouring rain.  I studied the forest and could see a flock of black birds (?) of medium size flying around this shape on a skinny branch.  My brain said owl, but my common sense said not that close to the house.

I pulled on my rain boots and trudged through the backyard to look more closely.  Yes.  Owl.  Sitting so still I wondered if he was okay.  Silly, right?  Isn't that what owls are known for?  Becoming a part of the scenery until the wildlife around them doesn't realize they are there?  Katie held the umbrella over the camera and I tried to zoom in as close as I could and get a still shot.  I'm not that steady and I was cold, so this is it.  He's/She's beautiful.  Katie and I compared pictures on the Internet.  We think it must be a short-eared owl.  Here on the West Coast in winter.
I wonder why he is sitting in our forest, right by our house, unmoving when we come close.  We stared at him so long from the warmth of the house that we did see his head swivel.  The birds left him for a while after his head turned.  I want to invite him inside, but am really thinking that would be disastrous.

Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest: Tracking and Identifying Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, and Invertebrates (Timber Press Field Guide)