Barn Owl with vole 22nd June 2015

I got lucky this evening with the barn owls after spending an hour lurking in the shadows with my camera and getting quite cold despite the sunshine in the meadow.

Suddenly and without any warning the male owl dropped about 30 feet in front of me onto a vole.

I prefocussed on the long grass where I thought he was and waited until he took off again.

My focussing wasn't bad but could have been a bit sharper, nevertheless he flew right towards me and then proceeded to perch in a tree behind me . I could see him through the foliage and I think he was trying to remove some of the debris he'd collected when he hit the vole as there are quite a few bits of grass and stuff in his beak along with the vole.

Another bonus was that I've at last identified which nest box he's in as I saw him go to the box and I heard owlets hissing to be fed.

There are a lot of voles in the meadows at the moment and it's nothing to see 3 or 4 scurrying away under your feet so they shouldn't have any trouble feeding their brood.