Live barn owls stole the show at an art exhibition near Thixendale this week (June 7 – 15 th ) featuring paintings of these beloved birds of prey by renowned wildlife artist Robert E Fuller.

More than 1000 visitors flocked to the Robert Fuller Gallery at Fotherdale Farm during the first few days of its opening. They watched barn owls swoop outside the gallery building, before going inside to see the paintings.

The falconry display was organised by Minster Falconry, which is based in Sutton-on-the-Forest. Alongside barn owls, there was an eagle owl and a peregrine falcon.

Visitors were shown how to fly the birds of prey and were allowed to handle some of the friendlier ones.

Inside the gallery, there were some of Mr Fuller's highly-detailed original oil paintings of wildlife, limited edition prints and bronze sculptures. From tigers prowling the Indian jungle to penguins slipping on the Antarctic ice, there was something for wildlife lovers everywhere

These were exhibited alongside photographic boards and educational material on barn owls. There were also examples of barn owl nesting boxes and barn owl pellets (round balls of indigestible prey regurgitated by barn owls) for visitors to dissect.

“It's been really fun, I really enjoyed seeing all the paintings. I especially liked the falconry display. It was amazing to see the birds swooping outside the gallery and then going in and seeing the birds on canvas.”

The exhibition was held in support of Mr Fuller's recent efforts to conserve barn owls in East and North Yorkshire via the Wolds Barn Owl Group, of which Mr Fuller is a founding member.

The Wolds Barn Owl Group has been putting up nesting boxes across the Yorkshire countryside in order to offer barn owls safe homes in the wake of the barn conversion boom.

“So far the exhibition has been very successful,” said Mr Fuller. “I hope that people who visited this week will take away with them a better understanding of wildlife, and especially of barn owls.

“It is only by understanding these magnificent birds that we can learn to live in harmony with them. Barn owls are my favourite birds. I've painted more barn owls than any other bird.”

Mr Fuller also threw open the doors to his studio so that visitors could see how he paints.

On exhibit in the studio were photographs taken during his trips abroad to study wildlife for his paintings, including a recent trip to Tanzania to photograph wild dogs, and his latest visit, in May, to Finland to study brown bears.