HE may only be four months old, but Elton the spectacled owl has a top fan - his namesake Sir Elton John.

Elton's owners Kieren Bathers and David Edwards of Settle Falconry knew straight away what they were going to call the latest addition to their collection of birds.

They took some pictures of Elton and sent them to Sir Elton's address in Windsor, and were over the moon when they received a reply.

Sir Elton replied with a message written on one of the photos that David and Kieren sent to him of his namesake.

He wrote: “To Elton, Kieren and David, with much love Elton x He is so adorable."

David said they 'blown away' by Sir Elton's reply; they have framed the picture and will treasure it for ever.

David said: "We always wanted to have a spectacled owl and name him after Elton John, it’s the perfect name. So we thought we would have to write him a letter and let him know and send some photos, especially as we know how much he likes animals.

"We never in a million years thought we’d end up with Sir Elton himself being a fan. We’re so thankful to him for the amazing gift he’s sent that we can treasure forever, it’s almost like a fitting end to the story for us."

Spectacled owls are a large tropical owl that originate around the Amazon Rainforest in South America.

Juvenile birds, like Elton, are very distinctive and are completely white, apart from a chocolate brown face disc.

Four month old Elton is growing fast and is already free flying on guest experiences.

Kieran and David both used to work at the falconry centre in Austwick; and when the owner retired in 2015, they decided to set up on their own. They now run their falconry experiences from Elaine's Tearoom in Feizor, near Settle.

Both Kieran and David were called 'Kes' during their schooldays - named after the boy in the film by Ken Loach who adopts a young kestrel and trains it in falconry.

David said: "It was a lifelong ambition to run a falconry - I have kept birds of prey since 1999 at age 13, but having wanted one since about age five."

Kieren began by volunteering at the Austwick centre before being taken on as a full time falconer when he left school at 17 years old.

Find Settle Falconry on Facebook or at https://www.settlefalconry.co.uk/