Even no one would expect from a barn owl to ever be tenderness, this photographer has captured on camera two owls sharing a very affectionate moment.

Owls are known as solitary birds, so it is extremely difficult to spot two owls at the same time, let alone a pair of these birds of pray sharing a kiss. Well, a lucky photographer from the Uk has recently managed to witness such an extremely rare sight. Leslie Arnott has managed to snap a few frames of a truly romantic encounter between two barn owls in a small village of Staffordshire, UK.

“They are quite hard conditions in the dark woodland and the pair flew for a while before sharing their special moment,” the photographer said. “They started rubbing heads and getting quite affectionate. Then came the moment they appeared to kiss each other.’They ‘kissed’ twice…a moment I have never witnessed before or since.”

The photographer said the two majestic birds spend around two or three minutes there, on a tree branch, before taking their fly. And all this time they were so affectionate with each other.

But what’s even more fascinating is the two birds are not actually mates, but sisters. As about the innocent kiss they’ve shared, Leslie is pretty sure we won’t find an explanation anytime soon. “[The two owls] are very affectionate towards each other and work well together, however they’re no a breeding pair,” she said.” They are actually sisters.”