Ladies and gentlemen, meet Gizmo. He is a western screech owl currently residing at the Screech owl sanctuary in Cornwall, and is an amazing character. He is convinced that he is the scariest creature on the planet and tends to pull himself up to his full height and glare at anybody who goes near.

However, this doesn't quite have the effect that he seems to expect, possibly because he is only 6 inches tall and (although he won't admit it) cute and fluffy. Despite his hardass act he is actually very friendly and blows his image even further if you tickle him, as he becomes putty in your hands.

I fell in love with this little guy, you can see more pics of him in my 'owls' gallery.

For now though, here he is pretending to be mean:



and also, in 'cute' mode, which he adopts when he finally realises that he is fooling NO-ONE:




I always appreciate feedback on my images, so please leave a comment, if you can spare a minute. Thanks.