
Swooping in majestically towards her chicks laden with food in the dead of night, these remarkable pictures give the kind of rare insight most bird watchers dream of.
The stunning selection of painstakingly-taken images show a female owl sailing through the night sky to feed her young.
The snaps were taken in the middle of the night by German photographer Horst Jegen, who provides a rare insight into owls and their chicks through the carefully-taken shots.

Mr Jegen, 41, had to park himself in front of the treetop home of the owls armed with just a tent, a long lens camera and two flash bulbs to capture the rare moment.
The patient photographer spent several hours waiting for the perfect snap as the dutiful female owl flew towards the home of her hungry youngsters.

His patience eventually paid off when he caught the adult owl flying in with bugs and worms carried in her mouth for her eager and hungry brood.
In one shot the mother owl can be seen carrying a thick juicy worm towards the tree hole where her chicks are waiting.

Another revealing picture shows her flying homeward-bound with a mouse between her teeth.
Mr Jegen is no stranger to capturing rare moments in nature which any wildlife photographer would be proud of.
Last month he took an amazing picture of a fox trying to steal an egg from inside a log.
source :dailymail