For the past month or so, I've been awakened by a bird call between two and
three a.m. The first time I heard it, I could swear that it sounded like
it was part of a larger flock flying over the area, so I dismissed it. But
now I hear only one call. The bird sounds quite large. The call is short, no
more than five seconds, and it goes up at the end. It sounds as if it's
perching on our or our neighbor's roof. Unfortunately, by the time I'm fully
awake, find my glasses, turn on my phone so I can record, it's gone. And
even though I swear I'll do a better job of remembering the call and cadence
of it when I get up in the morning, I can't.

We live in Newcastle, south of Bellevue, at about 800 ft. altitude, and
have lived here for 20+ years without hearing this call before. We have a
couple acre greenbelt with large Douglas Firs behind us. We're used to hearing
Great Horned Owls, and it's not that. Nor is it any other PNW owl, at least
according to all the online recordings I could find. It almost sounds a
little like a California Quail, but a very large one, tiredly working up to
the end of its Chicago call and giving up.

Any suggestions?

Sleepless in Newcastle