Not only one of my favorites this year, but might be one of my favorites ever.
It would be cheating to call it a wildlife photo because it was taken in a zoo, but to me, the location makes it even better - I feel like the owl is looking towards the sun, thinking about what it would be like to not be trapped in the enclosure and be free, making the image more powerful.
Taken in June, during my first photo walk after buying the Canon R5 (with Sigma 150-600), edited in Capture One - basic edits: highlights, shadows, color temperature. It was around sunset, and the last rays of the sun were shining through the top of the enclosure, giving this amazing spotlight on the animal and almost completely blacking out the background.