Great find, I like the one ear up-one ear down pose, perch, eye contact and BG. The exposure doesn't look right, I would tone down the highlights and maybe a bit more contrast. The bird and perch look quite oversharpened on my monitor.
Very nice shot. I like the diagonal perch with the pine cones, the bg colours are nice, the pose is great with one ear up he does appear to have an attitude. I agree there appears to be a problem with highlights and over sharpening.
I don't feel that people should use a flash when shooting owls with their night vision eyes.
Joe