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As much as I loved the descriptions of the owls, their behaviour and their habitat, what felt like the more impactful learning experience was the author's story of the difficulties in searching for and studying the owls, specifically just how harsh and remote this province in eastern Russia is, how it has shaped the people, how little there is in the way of modern conveniences or season-proof infrastructure. 1/?

Angry cupcake! 😡🧁😆

A queen. 🦉👑🙇🏼‍♂️

Caption says the chick is just-hatched, still-blind, but it looks like it's got that grumpy, just awoken from a nap squint to me. 😁

It's just so soothing to read about a positive plan in the sphere of nature conservation.

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

Having the best time with this mental image. 🦉😁 Big and fluffy!

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.

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!

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!

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.

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

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

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.

Morning plans...

Last commute of 2020! Masked and reading on my phone!

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)