Barn Owl.

These pictures were taken, a couple of weeks ago, during my stay at the Old Park Hotel on the Isle of Wight. The hotel had laid on a 'birds of prey' demonstration, in the hotels' extensive grounds, by two of the local falconers. We were allowed to closely approach the less ferocious birds, and I had the experience, just after I had taken these pictures, of carrying this Barn Owl on my, gloved, forearm.
We were not allowed to touch the more ferocious birds, as it was explained by the senior falconer that, previously, his assistant had a large piece of flesh torn from the side of his nose, when he had accidentally put his face too close to one of the birds, a Turkey Vulture, which had displayed during this display, not, I hasten to add, it's nose nipping habit.

Thanks for looking, I hope that you like the pictures.
Brian.

I apologize that there is no second version, as after I click to upload a version and it tells me that I can select the version when the 'choose photo' button appears, no such button appears. (Par for the course???)

Brand:	FUJIFILM
Camera:	Fujifilm FinePix S9600 Zoom
Lens:	28-300mm zoom equiv,135
Recording media:	JPEG (digital)
Date Taken:	27 Jun 2012 - 6:19 PM
Focal Length:	12.8mm
Lens Max Aperture:	f/2.8
Aperture:	f/3.6
Shutter Speed:	1/320sec
Exposure Comp:	0.0
ISO:	200, 200
Exposure Mode:	Program AE
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
Flash:	Off, Did not fire

Title:	Barn Owl.
Username:	Brilane
Uploaded:	20 Jul 2012 - 9:22 PM
Tags:	General, Pets / captive animals, Wildlife / nature
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Votes:	24