Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan C. Slaght

Soon he was on a five-year journey, searching for this enormous, enigmatic creature in the lush, remote forests of eastern Russia. He snapped a quick photo and shared it with experts.

Bigger than any owl he knew, it looked like a small bear with decorative feathers. Slaght had a chance encounter with one of the most mysterious birds on Earth. When he was just a fledgling birdwatcher, Jonathan C. No scientist had seen a Blakiston’s fish owl so far south in a hundred years. 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. ‘True epic.New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2020)Ī field scientist and conservationist tracks the elusive Blakiston's fish owl in the forbidding reaches of eastern Russia Sophy Roberts, author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia I haven’t enjoyed a book on remote Russia as much as this since Ian Frazier’s Travels in Siberia’ ‘Slaght makes the people, wildlife and landscape of the Russian Far East come alive. Preserving its habitats will secure the forest for future generations, both animal and human – but can this battle be won? Exhilarating and clear-sighted, Owls of the Eastern Ice is an impassioned reflection on our relationship with the natural world and on what it means to devote one’s career to a single pursuit. And he has observed how Russia’s logging interests and evolving fortunes present new threats to the owl’s survival. He has spent time with the Russians who struggle on in the harsh conditions of the taiga forest. During months-long journeys covering thousands of miles, he has pursued it through its forbidding territory.

This is the story of Slaght’s quest to safeguard the elusive owl from extinction. A chance encounter with this huge, strange bird was to change wildlife researcher Jonathan C. It is also home to one of nature’s rarest birds, the Blakiston’s fish owl. Primorye, a remote forested region near to where Russia, China and North Korea meet in a tangle of barbed wire, is the only place where brown bears, tigers and leopards co-exist. ‘Gripping’ Dave Goulson, author of A Sting in the Tale

If only every endangered species had a guardian angel as impassioned, courageous and pragmatic as Jonathan Slaght’ Isabella Tree, author of Wilding

Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan C. Slaght