Being prepared

We’ve had a couple of brief sightings of the local barn owl over the last few evenings, so, this evening, I decided to have my camera at the ready, just in case it passed by. To my delight (but not to that of one of the local voles’), it did:

For a brief moment, I thought I was finally about to be on the receiving end of the perfect fly-by: a barn owl with a kill in broad daylight flying straight towards me when I had my camera primed and ready. But about ¼ second after I took the above photo, the owl spotted me and did a handbrake turn, heading off across the fields towards my farmer friend’s barn.

Still, though: another thrilling encounter.