AN off-target owl left a big impression when it flew into a window.

Members of New Blackwell Lawn Tennis Club, in Darlington, found the startling imprint when they arrived on Saturday morning.

It shows the perfect outline of what they believe to be a tawny owl that had flown into the window. It is not known what happened to it, with no sign of an injured bird found.

Birds often fly into windows when they see their reflection and think it is another bird.

Two years ago, The Northern Echo told of a pigeon that left a similar outline on a window in Barnard Castle.

Earlier this year, officials at Rockliffe Hall, in Hurworth, near Darlington, erected a fake owl at its driving range to frighten off birds, after staff found imprints of birds on the club’s mirrors.