Verreaux’s eagle-owl ready for night

The Verreaux's eagle-owl is the largest owl in Africa, with a wingspan up to 5 ft 5 inches. It is a huge and magnificent bird, and if you are anything smaller than a gazelle, you are on his menu! The owl is waiting on his roost, waiting to begin the evening hunt. The pink eyelids are a unique indicative feature of this species. The lighting for the image was taken with a low power flashlight. There is still quite a bit of light on the horizon, and the owl was not discomforted or visibly affected by the flashlight. The image was taken in the very remote Ruaha National Park in South Central Tanzania, with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II with a Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II LSM lens. The exposure settings were 1/25 sec at f/5.6, ISO 6400, 400 mm.