Canon Elan IIe, tripod Sigma 170-500 at 300mm Fuji Provia 100 f16, 1/60

Great - the new neighbors have kids and a dog...

There's little chance that I'll ever get a shot this close to an elf owl (Micrathene whitneyi) in the wild. Taken at the NC Zoological Park in Asheboro, I happened on one of those lucky times when the owl was close to the glass and not snoozing in the nest.

The light was good, not requiring any fill-flash, so I fitted a rubber lenshood and got right against the glass while he watched suspiciously.

There I go, anthropomorphizing again. He probably wasn't suspicious at all, having seen hundreds of people pressed against the exhibit before. But an owl's facial structure kinda calls for some emotion like that, doesn't it?