The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, located at the end of Old Farm Road, hosted its monthly Sunday At The Sanctuary on October 16.The last Sunday at the Sanctuary of the year will take place on Thanksgiving weekend, November 27. Participants will help get the sanctuary settled in for winter by making shelter and food to support the native animal inhabitants. Members of Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservatory will also be back to teach Native American folklore about waterfowl. The event is free and open to the public. To RSVP, e-mail the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation at Info@cvhfoundation.org or call 866-620-8640.

The sanctuary is being created by the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation as a lasting legacy to honor Catherine, one of the victims of 12/14, whose dream was to have an animal shelter.

With Halloween just around the corner, foundation President Jenny Hubbard said the day's theme was "creatures of the night" highlighting nocturnal animals like bats and owls.

The all-day Night Flights event kicked off with a 9 am morning family yoga session under the pavilion and was followed up by an educational "Bats 101" course with DEEP US Fish & Wildlife Rehabilitator Linda Bowen.

Later in the evening, a variety of fall festivities were offered for guests to enjoy. Adults were welcomed to make autumnal botanical arrangements with Master Gardener Laura King, who showed the group how to make seasonal displays out of items that can be found in nature.

Meanwhile, children were given the opportunity to decorate "spooktacular" pumpkins. Logue Farm of Woodbury generously donated 30 pumpkins for everyone at the sanctuary to paint.

At 5 pm, the nonprofit group Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservatory of Litchfield entertained the crowd with a presentation on owls.

Livingston's Director of Education Ben Sonnenberg passed around owl feathers, pellets, bones, and claws for attendees to get an up close look at the different features of the birds and examine what makes them special.

One of the fun facts that Mr Sonnenberg told the crowd was that "owls have very fluffy feathers and a serrated soft edge to their feathers, that allows them to fly very silently." He explained that the attribute helps them to sneak up and catch prey, but it also helps them to be able to hear their surroundings without the flapping of their wings interfering.

Mr Sonnenberg and Livingston Director of Agriculture Nick Tiberio also gave the group a personal encounter with two beautiful owls, Poppy the American barn owl and Camo the Eurasian eagle-owl.

Using specialty gloves, to protect against the talons, and a line to tether each bird so it would not fly off, the birds were brought out for the crowd to see.

Poppy, a 2-year-old female, was given her name because the speckles on her feathers looked like poppy seeds. Despite being only one pound, Mr Sonnenberg affectionately called her a "rodent specialist," because of her predatory skills.

Camo, the orange-eyed owl, was significantly larger that Poppy, weighing in at about four pounds with a massive wingspan of 4½ to 5 feet.

Newtown resident Gail Lynch, who attended the owl presentation, said seeing Camo was her favorite part of the evening. "I loved when they had the [Eurasian eagle] owl out and it flapped its wings open for the crowd," she said with excitement.

At the end of the presentation, young Logan Dryer agreed, saying his favorite part was getting to see the large owl in person. An avid reader and animal lover, Logan impressively had answered most of the questions directed to the crowd during the owl presentation, showing his knowledge of the birds.

As the sun began to set on the sanctuary, wildlife educator Henryk Teraszkiewicz, of Bent of the River in Southbury, led the night's owl prowl.

Gathered around the sanctuary's sculpture, he first taught the group about how owls have different hoots depending on the breed.

Mr Teraszkiewicz did some of his own specialty calls that impressed the crowd, but also used an app on a tablet for some electronic enhancement. The device was linked to wireless speakers, which made it possible to carry and project the owl noises toward the woods.

He intentionally had the smaller owl sounds play first so as to not scare any away with the larger more intimidating owl vocalizations, because, as attendees learned, owls eat other owls.

Logan helped select each variety of owl noise while Mr Teraszkiewicz's daughter, Zosia, held the speaker.

The group walked around the perimeter of the sanctuary playing the owl noises and carefully listening for sounds of owls in the surrounding woods.

Mr Teraszkiewicz explained to the group that a naturalist trick of the trade is to cup one's ears and listen closely.

Despite patiently listening for wild owls at the sanctuary, none made their presence known that night.

There was a moment, though, toward the end of the walk, as everyone looked up towards the dimly lit sky, that a large flock of geese assembled in a majestic V-shape and flew above the sanctuary. The attention it grabbed and the awe it inspired led participants to take it as a sign from above.