This is the majestic moment a barn owl swoops down and snatches a field mouse which is searching for food in the snow.
Wildlife photographer Mark Hancox, 48, waited for five hours in temperatures of minus 10 degrees in a field near Oswestry, Shrops., to capture the shot on Saturday.
VIEW MORE PICTURES OF THE OWL IN ACTION
He said: ”I knew this field was a place where barn owls often hunted in winter so set up camp at the edge of the land facing a steep bank.
”The bank was covered in snow so I didn’t get much time to see the owls before they swooped down.
”It was bitterly cold and I was wearing six or seven layers, but I was determined to get the shot.
”After five hours or so crouched down in the same position I was losing hope but it suddenly went eerily still.
”I could sense something was about to happen and noticed a tiny movement of a field mouse in the corner of my eye.
”In a flash this beautifully coloured barn owl swooped down and snatched the mouse.
”I was able to track it with my camera as it flew off with it in its claws. It was majestic.”
Barn owls commonly live on a diet of one or two mice or rodents per day.
