owls of the eastern ice by jonathan c slaght

Learning to trap the owls was another major hurdle, but they were finally able to attach radio telemetry devices to a number of them. The first year of the study drove the researchers nearly to despair as they tried to locate enough owls to study. I was amazed to read that Slaght and his colleagues would sometimes follow owl tracks along a frozen river to find its fishing hole - the mind boggles at the idea of tracking a raptor. They spend much of the night standing on ice or perched low on a branch, waiting to pounce on salmon or trout. 'You have to be willing to spend a long time in the woods at minus 30 degrees.' Winter is the best time to locate fish owls, because when they can be found at all, it's usually near an opening in river ice, where an owl pair will stake out a territory. 'They're a challenge to study,' says Slaght. Slaght holds a fish owl with a fish in its beak. These big birds have a disheveled look, with their long, loose feathers needed for the extreme cold. They stand as tall as a fire hydrant and Slaght has sometimes mistaken an owl in a tree for a small bear. How big are these owls? Their wingspan is similar to a bald eagle's, about 6 feet across. Their stronghold is in the Primorye Province forests adjacent to the Russian Pacific Coast and there were few studies to draw on when he set out to focus his graduate work on the 'ice owls.' Slaght (rhymes with 'cat') describes them as one of the most charismatic and enigmatic owls in the world. The Blakiston's fish owl is an endangered species few of us have heard of and fewer still will ever see. And it's a tale about an intrepid young wildlife biologist intent on saving one of the world's rarest owls.

It's set in a place of astonishing beauty and ruggedness, with danger around every corner in a remote old-growth forest. Maybe because it's a fascinating mystery story (will they find enough of these extremely secretive owls to study) and an adventure tale full of odd and compelling Russian characters.

Owls of the eastern ice by jonathan c slaght