Science by Night at the Museum of Nature (2016)

This evening, a free event called Science by Night took place at the Museum of Nature.  In addition to the usual Thursdays' free open house (in the evenings), there were activities where the visitors could extract strawberry DNA, see birds of prey up-close, talk to paleontologists and park scientists, and more.  Since I have been to the museum many times already, the activity that interested me the most was seeing the birds of prey from Falcon Environmental Services.

The Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus).

Looking directly at me.

The Barn Owl (Tyto alba).

A male American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) named Elvis.

The blue/gray crown and wings indicate this is a male.

Since I had only seen kestrels a handful of times in the wild (in the distance), I was amazed to see how small they actually are (smaller than American Robins).

Adorable!

Another popular activity was getting a sprayed-on tattoo of animals (promoting Parks Canada).  The line was too long so I didn't get one.

Afterwards, I walked back to campus to collect my things.  I don't think I have ever seen Rideau Canal at dusk before.

While walking along the canal, I realized there was something flying along the canal.  I realized that it was a bat!  Trying to take a photo of a fast-moving animal in the dark is impossible, but I am quite happy with this image.  Maybe I will stay later at school from now on just so that I can look for bats at dusk.

Great day overall.