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Owls of the Eastern Ice
Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl | Jonathan C. Slaght
A field scientist and conservationist tracks the elusive Blakiston's Fish Owl in the forbidding reaches of eastern Russia I saw my first Blakistons 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 Blakistons 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 Blakistons 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 Slaghts 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.
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Robotswithpersonality
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It's just so soothing to read about a positive plan in the sphere of nature conservation.

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Robotswithpersonality
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OMG, the descriptions get better!
“defiant, floppy goblin“ vs “dour trash can“
😆 Loving the writing.

7 likes1 stack add
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Robotswithpersonality
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Having the best time with this mental image. 🦉😁 Big and fluffy!

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jlhammar
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Huzzah! My holiday break commences! This is how I hope to spend it. I selected the book title based on the card, but can highly recommend. One of my favorite nonfiction reads from last year.

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Tamra
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Mehso-so

This didn‘t have the poetic prose I expect out of nature non-fiction nor a narrative drive to really propel it forward toward a conclusion. It felt more like a summation of journal entries. But, I did learn about fisher owls and their conservation. I also didn‘t realize how wild with predator types the forests of Primorye Russia are - I thought it was bad enough to be mindful about bears & cougars here in the western US. Add tigers and wild boar!

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Tamra
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I started this audio with the author narrating and I was so sure I knew that voice. Turns out he‘s from Minnesota. 😂

My kind of nonfiction - nature related!

62 likes1 stack add
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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

Owls of the Eastern Ice not only details Slaght‘s efforts to study a poorly known bird, the world‘s largest owl species, but also serves as an anthropological look at the area of far eastern Russia where the birds are found. The writing is incredibly engaging and the book was a balm, pulling me completely out of our current moment and letting me visit an interesting place. I can‘t recommend this enough.

50 likes4 stack adds
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EricaCurtis11
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Pickpick

This book was good enough to make me question whether I could@make a career change and become an ornithologist.

5 likes1 stack add
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BookishTrish
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Pickpick

A love letter to fieldwork, Russia‘s Far East, and Blakiston‘s fish owls. Delightful + highly recommended.

Tove_Reads I really like it as well. 4y
BookishTrish @Tove_Reads Such a find! It was recommended to me because I liked The Book of Eels. 4y
Crazeedi Wow. I'm intrigued 4y
65 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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BookishTrish
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Aaaaaaah #memories. You had to watch your feet in Moscow when I lived there in the late 1990s so as not to fall down an open manhole.

jdiehr Wow. For real?? 4y
BookishTrish @jdiehr Not all of them, but enough that you had to watch where you stepped. 4y
Crazeedi A country I always wanted to see. Took 4 years of Russian in high school, and have been always fascinated with the culture and history. My teacher spent time there. He took us as a group to several Russian events in Pittsburgh 4y
BookishTrish @Crazeedi Oh me too! I‘d wanted to go since Kindergarten and never let up on it. I did my last semester of uni at Moscow State and then stayed on for a year to teach English. It was an amazing experience! 4y
Crazeedi @BookishTrish that is very awesome! I'm watching Ekaterina on Tubi right now! It's in Russian with subtitles. I saw season 1 last year on another app and this app has season 2 and 3!! 4y
50 likes5 comments
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BookishTrish
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Morning plans...

BarbaraBB Perfect! 4y
61 likes1 comment
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BookishTrish
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Last commute of 2020! Masked and reading on my phone!

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BookishTrish
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Although I never made it as Far East as Primorye, this weeks #insomnia read reminds me of my trip to Siberia over 20 years ago @BarbaraBB (I‘m on the left and still wearing those Doc Martins)

LeahBergen I‘ve always thought I‘d like to go to Siberia! 4y
BookishTrish @LeahBergen it was the trip of a lifetime! 4y
BarbaraBB So cool! I can imagine it was the trip of a lifetime 💕 4y
45 likes3 comments