Review by Booklist Review
The terrific Scientists in the Field series gets another installment, this time focusing on the stunning snowy owl. Photographer and owl afficionado Wilson follows long-time field researcher Denver Holt to the Alaskan tundra, home to nesting snowy owls for millennia. Holt has been keeping an eye on the owls for years, and readers are treated to an intimate look at the spectacular raptors, Holt's tireless fieldwork, and the remote town of Utqiagvik and its human residents. It's an incredibly detailed and engrossing inquiry, and the frequent first-person narration makes the text urgent and inviting, transporting readers into a wild, windswept world. Tinted sidebars point the audience to brief biographies, observation tools, or anatomical information, so the dense material never feels overwhelming. The abundant humor and honesty about the sometimes-difficult conditions and repetitive aspects of fieldwork is delightfully refreshing, though it is clear that it remains rewarding and essential work. Truly astonishing photos appear on nearly every spread--midflight skirmishes, sudden strikes on a scientist's backpack--capturing an impressive range of flora and fauna along with the beauty of the stark landscape. There is much still unknown about the owls, and a concluding discussion of the warming oceans makes it obvious that the ecosystem hangs in a delicate balance. An extraordinary crash course in geography, biology, conservation, and ecology that goes far beyond its wonderful winged subject.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
The magnificent snowy owl has only one U.S. nesting location: Ukpeagvik, on Alaska's North Shore. Readers travel vicariously to the town of Utqiagvik (previously Barrow) where they meet senior owl researcher Denver Holt, who has been studying these nesting grounds every summer since the early 1990s. In a designated hundred-square-mile area of the tundra, he makes numerous scheduled trips to count the nests; band chicks; collect data on lemmings, the staple of this creature's diet (ascertained by dissecting thirty-five thousand owl pellets); analyze nest rims for other sources of food; and study the feather markings of both males and females. Readers not only glimpse the difficulties of working in such challenging conditions, including driving or walking through the spongy tundra or meticulously protecting the nests while studying them and warding off aggressive birds of prey, but they also see how Holt uses the data to form conclusions or prompt further study. Wilson, a prolific wildlife photographer, explains his procedures for photographing these birds in their natural habitat and shares his final products in clear, informative, and often dramatic images. Appended with a glossary, a bibliography, and an index (unseen). Betty Carter May/June 2022 p.169(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
