Eurasian pigmy owl on a branch

(Unfortunately I do not have anon6789’s knack for titles.)

Eurasian pygmy owl (Glaucidium passerinum)

Picture by Philippe Vigneron. February 2024, in this forest.

This picture was nominated in a bird picture contest last year. I found it here with the other pictures, followed by this short text:

After several days spent looking for a fox, wildcat or stoat in Champfromier forest, my friend Jean-Luc and I decide, for lack of snow, to go explore higher up in the forest of this bit of Jura. No sooner have we arrived that a wing movement catches my eye. I recognise the [Eurasian] pigmy owl right away. It lands on top of the foliage just above my head. On the branch of a beech tree, it undertakes a methodical grooming session. The view angle not being to its advantage, I move away without letting the tiny ball of feathers out of my sight. More than a half hour of enraptured observation before it disappears as stealthily as it had arrived.

The translation is by me and probably filled with mistakes, sorry!