Amazing video shows owl bathing in Yorkshire Dales pond

An art gallery has captured 'unprecedented' footage of a tawny owl cooling down in a pond on the hottest day of the year.

The video was filmed on one of 40 wildlife surveillance cameras at the Robert Fuller Gallery in Thixendale.

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It shows a tawny owl - which would usually only be active at night - bathing in and drinking from a pond that was only built this year.

Robert, who is a wildlife artist and photographer, called the sight 'unprecedented'.

“I have used surveillance cameras to watch wild animals for my paintings for a number of years now and have a lifetime’s experience of watching owls in the wild but this is the most extraordinary behaviour I have observed from an owl - in fact I think it is unprecedented.

“These birds are nocturnal and rarely come out to bathe like this in daylight. But what is particularly unusual is to see a tawny owl drinking. Most birds of prey get their moisture from their food. This bird is really gulping down the water.”

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The pond is believed to be the only water source available in the 'dry valley' where the gallery, which is open to visitors, is located in a remote part of the Dales.

Temperatures reached 26 degrees on the day the owl was seen, and the unusual event was witnessed by a group of people visiting the gallery.