Riding The Winds

I can see some of the birdwatchers among my readers spending a lot of time in this particular gallery. More of the displays today. 

There are three dioramas set up with different species in different parts of the country. A broad-winged hawk is perched along a shoreline of the Great Lakes.

A diorama set in Saskatchewan includes greater sage grouse, with the male showing off.

And this one is set in the far west, featuring three different species.

The Bird Gallery

The Bird Gallery is the next of the spaces inside the Museum of Nature. Display cases feature a wealth of bird species spending some or all of their time in Canada, often organized according to a given theme, and display panels go into detail about the variety of birds in the country.

Museum Views

Covid restrictions required a different path than I usually take when I visit the Museum of Nature. The three remaining galleries I took the stairs to get to, and I'll actually be presenting them in reverse order of my actual visits (I like finishing this series with fossils). Down on the ground floor of the museum, where one can usually buy tickets (it was online when I visited), a large half sphere was set up with a reflection of the atrium above, including Gaia. 

Nearby is a display panel identifying the artist behind both works hanging in the museum.

I took two shots of the stairs heading up from here.

And another view of Gaia, with Australia coming around. I'll share more takes on this for a theme day in April, which appropriately is about the Earth.

Out in the Queens Lantern I caught another look at the Moon.

I took shots of panels about the building itself before moving along to the next gallery.

Into The Abyss

 This display is a recreation of life around a deep sea hydrothermal vent.

A panel here looks at a rather unusual fish. A life sized model hangs overhead.

Another case of a model overhead with a panel identifying it: the porbeagle shark.

More panels about water round out the gallery.

And to conclude the Water Gallery, one more look at the blue whale skeleton.

By The Shore

This display case continues, with bird specimens set up along with descriptive panels. 

Included with this is the raccoon, which can often be found around lakes, ponds, and rivers, seeking out a variety of cuisine.

This panel emphasizes the importance of wetlands in general.

A diorama here includes a model of a turtle.

While a nearby terrarium includes one.

This is one of the many floor markers to be found throughout the museum, reminding the visitor to socially distance. Very appropriate for the place.

Coming back out into the ocean area of the gallery, I took shots of a display case about anthropods.

Freshwater

A reminder to members of City Daily Photo: the theme day for February 1st is Smiles. I will be dipping into my archives for some of it, but with some fresh material too. 

The path in the Water Gallery leads into an area that focuses on freshwater environments. It includes a large aquarium with several species of freshwater fish.

Panels look at the concept of watersheds, including a breakdown of where Canadian waters actually go. One of those watersheds will come as a surprise to many of you.

A display case nearby includes several birds and other life around freshwater shores. We'll see more of this tomorrow.