The quest to save "the floppy goblin," the Blakiston’s fish owl

March 6, 2021 9:31 AM

"When I was 19, in the summer of 1995, I fell in love with an owl." Johnathan Slaght is a wildlife conservationist who has devoted a large part of his career to help maintain and secure the habitat of the Blakiston fish owl, the largest owl in the world. The piscivorous owl lives primarily in the Primorye Forest in Russia, and is "the size of a fire hydrant with a six-foot wingspan" (pix). His quest to find and preserve the habitat of this bird is documented in his book Owls of the Eastern Ice, much of which was written in the back of a Russian GAZ-66 flatbed truck equipped with a wood stove (but no bathroom).
posted by jessamyn (8 comments total)

Its face struck me as more hawk-like than owl-like, without the very obvious facial disk that owls generally have that helps them hunt by sound. Then I realized as a fish-owl, it probably hunts more by sight than hearing. Very neat bird.
posted by mollweide at 11:11 AM on March 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Mod note: fixed my own link, carry on.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:05 PM on March 6, 2021

That is an impressive bird, even in photos. It must be amazing to see in person.
posted by Dip Flash at 12:19 PM on March 6, 2021

Studying birds, drinking beer, and writing about it. My kind of life.

This man has it figured out.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 12:43 PM on March 6, 2021 [3 favorites]

I fell in love with an owl

I fell in love at once and almost completely.

Also, these guys look very much like the avian versions of manuls, which is delightful.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:55 PM on March 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

It is very cat-like (owls are 'cat-headed eagles' in Chinese) and I love that it is so large. And also that this man wants to save the owls but is not oblivious to the humans who make a living from logging and fishing.
posted by batter_my_heart at 3:23 PM on March 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

Also, these guys look very much like the avian versions of manuls, which is delightful.

Which, let’s be honest, is the cat version of Tibetan Sand Foxes.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 7:59 PM on March 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

The hunt for the world’s largest owl - Jonathan Slaght in conversation with Sarah Kanowski, ABC Radio National, first broadcast 19 Nov 2020
posted by flabdablet at 3:12 AM on March 7, 2021 [1 favorite]