The Blakiston’s Fish Owl
Fish I the shoals of riparian streams deep in the Stygian night. My secret life does make me seem a creature kept from sight. The Ainu thought I brought good luck, we shared a life complete. But human numbers grew so much my kind's now quite deplete. When I arrive to dine each night along a snowy shore, I search the dark without much light to catch my meal and more. Talons to the pool I go, my wings are held up high. It's how I catch my supper, though, my pinions must stay dry. I eat the fish, I cannot wait, it's back to work I go. To catch a meal that's for my mate. She waits for me to show ...and off to feed my waiting partner, silently I go.
The Blakiston’s Fish Owl is highly endangered and one of the rarest birds on the planet. It also belongs with the Eagle Owl faction, the largest of owl species. It is found only in restricted areas of Russia, China and Japan.
~ Poem, anecdote and Blakiston’s Fish Owl image © Jerry L. Ferrara