FZ200 - Northern Hawk Owl, Old Quarry Trail, Ottawa

I took this shot from about 50-60 feet away in full bright sun, so it was a real challenge trying to retain feather detail in the highlights... this was all I could manage under the circumstances but the pose was just too good to discard the photo because of poor IQ. I tried -1/3EV and -2/3EV and the former was better, but I just couldn't get those facial feathers to resolve. I went back the next day to try some other things, but alas, there was no sun and no owl! LOL!

What is it about owls that so captivate us?

Cheers,
Rudy