Little Owl with food

One of the nice things about photographing little owls is the ability to see what food they are bringing in which in a way can give valuable info about their specific food/habitat needs. I have data going back 50 years with notes on what they have brought in and am preparing a paper on this at the moment.
This one has a Ghost Swift moth- for some reason one of the most frequent food items at least in this part of the world. Its good that bird photography gives us the chance to anylise food items - including mealworms which often are not mentioned ! It would be useful to know what other workers are finding regarding food items.

Taken inside an open fronted barn so difficult lighting
Nikon d7000
Sigma 100-300mm
800 iso
50th sec @f7
80% of frame.
Neat image/image guru/colour washer/ PSPro 7
JohnR

John, very nice image, lovely and sharp. I also like the BG of the reddish house bricks. The owl is looking at you and thinking. Go away and let me eat my dinner in peace :S3: Well done

Although it's not the usual style 'natural' background, I like the bricks for something different as it shows the variety in their nest locations. Given the lighting you must have had, I don't think you could have improved much on this shot - nice pose, good work

Thanks both. As matter of interest in all the times I spent with the owls in the past two years at this site, I never saw the parents bring a mouse or vole in. By frequency it was moths, worms,insects.. Obviously it varies with the time of day.
JohnR

Excellent image, love the stare and the food item in the beak. It is so nice that you have an opportunity to study the species for such a long time.
I recall that I was a young kid back in Hungary when we had a Little Owl nesting in the attic of one of the buildings in our property.
I watched it every day.

That prey item sure is a nice touch! It is still in great condition too, how neat. Not crazy about the two black spots in the BG, but I like the rest of the brick BG despite the fact it is not natural. Studying these must be fun, and I bet putting down your findings on a paper must be very fulfilling.

Thanks all. Here's one with an attempt to take out the OOF holes in the backdrop.
Thanks for looking
JohnR

Very sharp image nice work.

Excellent image. Very nice pose with moth in the beak. Moth and BG has given beautiful 3D effect to the frame. Love the expression of owl.

Regards,
Satish.