h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I saw a barn owl up close for the first time in my life about two months ago. My girlfriend and I were in the country, driving very slowy along a bumpy narrow track that was hemmed in either side by overgrown, overhanging trees. It was approaching dusk and as I turned to look out the car window, right infront of me, almost next to my head, there it was - a barn owl sitting in the branches. I reckon I was about a metre away. It didn't fly off and we just very slowy trundled past. I was blown away. A big-eyed creamy-white barn owl with its magnificent head is a very beautiful thing to see outdoors in its natural habitat.

And an eerily beautiful sight when seen flying as well, due to how pale and silent they are. I was lucky enough to have a very good view of a barn owl earlier this year while driving round rural Lincolnshire at dusk. The owl was presumably hunting voles or something as it flew along the canal by the roadside. A truly lovely creature to see

Ah! Brilliant! It does send shivers up me spine.