Owls of the Eastern Ice
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Average rating4.3
A field scientist and conservationist tracks the elusive Blakiston's Fish Owl in the forbidding reaches of eastern Russia The Blakiston’s Fish Owl, the largest species of owl on earth, found only in the far northern regions of Russia, Japan, and Korea, is also perhaps the most mysterious. Only a handful of scientists have attempted to study them, but a chance sighting changed the course of Jonathan C. Slaght’s life—sending him on a five-year journey to study these enigmatic creatures. In Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl, American researcher and conservationist Slaght takes us to the Primoriye region of Eastern Russia, where we join a small team for late-night monitoring missions, on mad dashes across thawing rivers, drink vodka with mystics, hermits, and scientists, and listen to fireside tales of Amur tigers. Most captivating of all are the fish owls themselves: cunning hunters, devoted parents, singers of eerie duets, and survivors in a harsh and shrinking habitat. A rare glimpse into the everyday life of a scientist and the subjects of his deep fascination, Owls of the Eastern Ice is a testament to the determination, creativity, and resolve required by field research and a powerful reminder of the beauty, strength, and vulnerability of the natural world.
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"It’s your second home, Jon. You’ll be back."
Who knew a book about owl conservation in Russia could be so engaging? Books like these are why I love dipping into obscure topics – you never know what you’ll find or how interesting small details can be.
This is a book about fish owls in Russia being studied by a guy from Minnesota. Jon Slaught picks these elusive, very rare birds as the focus of his graduate work, and we go along with him on his expeditions into Russia to find, study, catch, and release them. Along the way, we get a lot of insight into far eastern Russian culture, introspective thoughts about conservation in general, and an informative final few chapters where we learn what comes from his research and the devastating impact a typhoon from 2016 has on the region.
This is almost part memoir, in that we get a lot of Jon’s thoughts along the way about his expedition companions, the locations he frequents, the colorful cast of Russian characters he meets along the way, and all sorts of other little bits along the way. There’s plenty here about the fish owls of course, but I also loved learning new things about a country I know not enough about. The struggles he goes through in getting tracking data from the owls he identifies was especially interesting to me, about not wanting to stress the birds out unnecessarily, and wanting to make sure eggs and nest aren’t harmed while doing so. It’s very clear to me that he cares deeply about the owls and the region, and I really appreciated that while reading.
Great book about an obscure topic in a country most people probably don’t know much about.
