Pet on the loose? (2)

What a wonderful photo by Keith Micallef. Pity I did not have my camera when only last week a flamingo managed to eat all the fish from the pond in my garden after which it stood in the sun all morning before taking off, unharmed by the spring hunters.

What a wonderful photo by Keith Micallef. Pity I did not have my camera when only last week a flamingo managed to eat all the fish from the pond in my garden after which it stood in the sun all morning before taking off, unharmed by the spring hunters. At first I thought the barn owl in the photo was Mr Micallef's pet, but if it was, he would have noticed that birds of prey very rarely drink water, let alone from people's gardens.

Considering the amount of time I spent legally enjoying spring shooting in the Scottish countryside (one of the largest EU member states), I have never to date managed to witness a barn owl so oblivious to a human being trying to ram a camera into its face. May I suggest that the ruffled feathers (considering the photo was actually taken in Malta) denote that the bird in the photo was actually someone's pet gone astray.

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