The old farmyard buildings hold a pair of barn owls and little owls. The scolding blackbirds always let you know when they are about. The little owls are likely to nest somewhere in the abandoned livestock pens and the crumbling brick wall is a favourite perch. Of course, this photograph is as much about the rich, textured background as the hard staring little bird which sits within it; a compositional style that Robert Bateman does so well, for example in his wonderful painting of a young barn swallow.