wow - were its babies nearby or something?
The owl actually attacked me twice. The first time was a complete surprise and I thought it was a person trying to pull on my hood, but I spun around and looked all over and couldn't see anything at all. So I decided to turn around and leave, and about 20 feet away it tried again and this time landed on a nearby tree branch at around eye level and just watched me. I backed away while staring at it and then quickly exited the area.