What you looking at? Owl snapped staring down the lens

A short-eared owl checks out a wildlife photographer mid-flight. Credit: Steve Ward/SWNS

This owl, pictured mid-flight, was on the hunt for prey.

With a slightly accusatory yellow-eyed stare, the short-eared owl was snapped checking out the photographer as it swooped across a field in Merseyside.

The hunter was flying at dusk on the lookout for prey such as voles or mice.

Bird photographer Steve Ward got the picture at the Lunt Meadows nature reserve near Liverpool.

Steve, 36 from Crosby in Merseyside said: "It was taken in the golden hour, the last hour of light.

"The lovely golden low light is great for showing those piercing eyes."

Unlike many other owls, short-eared owls are seen hunting in daylight.

There are between 700 and 2,000 breeding pairs in the UK but the birds appear more common in winter when their numbers can be swelled to 30,000 from birds coming over from Scandinavia, Russia and Iceland.

They are currently listed as 'amber' status, one below red, which is critical.