Barred Owl?

This afternoon, about 3:30 I was at my house in town and looked out the window to see a large owl on a chair on the patio. He/she flew up to a tree and sat there for a while, then dropped down to catch something, stayed there for a while, looking around. I waited for about a half hour, hoping to see if the owl had caught anything, but it flew back to the tree with nothing in its claws, and I took more pictures. Although it looked like the pictures of the Spotted Owl in my bird book, I think it is probably a Barred Owl, since they are more common around here. After a while I went upstairs and from the window there I could see the three small children next door playing in their yard, maybe 30 feet from the owl, but separated by the fence my neighbors put in when they moved. And across the way you can see the other neighbors' house, with their manicured lawn and garden.

Barred Owl