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Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl

Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl

by Jonathan C. Slaght

Farrar, Straus and Giroux ·2020 ·368 pages
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76/99
Near the Top

71/99

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81/99

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Volume of Reviews

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About This Book

A field scientist and conservationist tracks the elusive Blakiston's Fish Owl in the forbidding reaches of eastern Russia. I saw my first Blakiston's fish owl in the Russian province of Primorye, a coastal talon of land hooking south into the belly of Northeast Asia . . . No scientist had seen a Blakiston's fish owl so far south in a hundred years . . . When he was just a fledgling birdwatcher, Jonathan C. Slaght had a chance encounter with one of the most mysterious birds on Earth. Bigger than any owl he knew, it looked like a small bear with decorative feathers. He snapped a quick photo and shared it with experts. Soon he was on a five-year journey, searching for this enormous, enigmatic creature in the lush, remote forests of eastern Russia. That first sighting set his calling as a scientist. Despite a wingspan of six feet and a height of over two feet, the Blakiston's fish owl is highly elusive. They are easiest to find in winter, when their tracks mark the snowy banks of the rivers where they feed. They are also endangered. And so, as Slaght and his devoted team set out to locate the owls, they aim to craft a conservation plan that helps ensure the species' survival. This quest sends them on all-night monitoring missions in freezing tents, mad dashes across thawing rivers, and free-climbs up rotting trees to check nests for precious eggs. They use cutting-edge tracking technology and improvise ingenious traps. And all along, they must keep watch against a run-in with a bear or an Amur tiger. At the heart of Slaght's story are the fish owls themselves: cunning hunters, devoted parents, singers of eerie duets, and survivors in a harsh and shrinking habitat. Through this rare glimpse into the everyday life of a field scientist and conservationist, Owls of the Eastern Ice testifies to the determination and creativity essential to scientific advancement and serves as a powerful reminder of the beauty, strength, and vulnerability of the natural world.


Reviews

"Slowly the owls reveal their secrets, and Slaght lets readers revel in the discoveries along with him."

Nancy Bent· Booklist Read review ↗ Near the Top

"His quest has deep moral, as well as personal significance ..."

Helen Macdonald· The Guardian Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"But it is also leavened by humorous profiles of Mr."

Heller McAlpin· The Wall Street Journal Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Mostly this is a book about the rigors of fieldwork, about cohabitating in close quarters, being stranded for weeks by storms, floods and melting ice, rejiggering strategies, 'aching' immobility, malfunctioning equipment and various other misfortunes, all vividly rendered."

Tucker Malarkey· The New York Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Slaght has the astonishing commitment to withstand the rigours of this strange landscape but neither the language nor attentiveness to put his magnificent owl in context."

Mark Cocker· The Spectator (UK) Read review ↗ Bottom of the Pile

"the owl's presence can be felt throughout the book, thanks to some evocative writing by Slaght ..."

Tom Lathan· Financial Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"an absolute marvel of a book."

Laurie Hertzel· The Minneapolis Star Tribune Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"The reader becomes, like the author, 'stunned by the quiet violence of this place.' This is, though, a hopeful book."

Clement Knox· The Times (UK) Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"an undeniably compelling story, especially for a book about owls, but there's something almost retrograde about this story of a hero chasing animals through the wilderness and glaring at Russian strangers across the banya steam-clouds."

Josephine Livingstone· The New Republic Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"Readers will be drawn to this exciting chronicle of science and adventure, 'a demonstration that wilderness can still be found.'"

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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