We just took in our 103rd bat of the year, 39 of which came to us in the last 2 weeks.
June is always crazy around here and this year is no exception.
We’ve had bats of seven species this month; northern yellows, southern yellows, Seminoles, eastern reds, free-tails, velifers, and evening bats.
It’s crazy, exhausting, and exhilarating work. But what a priviledge and an honor to be able to give these pups a second chance at life.
This pup was saved from a swimming pool skimmer by Jerry early Sunday morning.
He’s a juvenile Seminole bat, and was likely attempting to drink on his own for the first time when he crashed in the pool. Once in the water he could not escape, even though Jerry had a ramp for trapped wildlife. So please be like Jerry and have ramps, leave floaties in the water, and check those skimmers every morning. Give little beauties like Groot here a second chance!
https://www.amazon.com/Swimline-70200SL-FrogLog-Critter-Saving/dp/B004UHY2TY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497360924&sr=8-1&keywords=frog+log+critter+escape+ramp
This red bat family was found grounded in the middle of a side-street in Dripping Springs. The young single-mum was a pup herself just last summer and she may have been struggling to feed and manage her young family. She was emaciated, and was so lucky that Jacque spotted her before the grackles or bluejays did. Nice save Jacque! She and the pups have been rehydrated and their bellies filled and are now having a snooze at the top of the aviary. She knows she and her pups are safe for now.
That night the mum flew and the pups watched her for a while, then the bigger pup joined her. The little pup felt pretty lonesome and after a while took her very first flight. Both pups negotiated all the other flying bats and landed successfully at the top of the cage. By morning they had found mum and the whole family was snoozing together once it got light.
Littlest pup after first flight!
Older pup
Pups have to watch out for the other flyers
Waiting for mum to return
The next morning mum roosted in the sun, we had to shade them
This pup (D-Day) found himself on the wrong side of Congress Avenue Bridge on June 6th. Dianne, on her rebirth day, was called by a worried tourist and went down and belly crawled under the railing to rescue him. He probably crawled out of his crevice looking for a mum that got picked off by a predator. He was born a little early (average date of birth for free-tails is June 10th and he was likely born in late May) but lots of pups were 2-3 weeks early this year. We’ll do our best for this little guy and hopefully release him back at the bridge once he’s graduated from ABR Flight School!
Left to right: Evening bat male, red bat female, Seminole bat male
These pups should all still be with their mums and they know it. The bat milk replacer doesn’t taste the same and the mealworm guts are interesting, but not what they really want. They would normally be getting a taste of insects at this age by nuzzling their mum’s mouth, and they seem to need the supplemental nutrition with the milk replacers we use. Once they eat some guts, they end up with the worm in their mouths as a pacifier and pretty much just zone out. See video below:
Sometimes they tilt their heads back like a raccoon eating a grape!
Here we go! First red bat pups of the year!
The official (and earliest ever) start of our busiest season.
Three weeks earlier than 2016; one week earlier than 2015; two and a half weeks earlier than 2014.
This red bat mum was rescued by Selma and although one of her wings is pretty torn up, the pups seem to be doing fine. Great save Selma!
Here’s the best look we could get without disturbing her.
She’s been hanging by one foot and has her pups clenched to her breast with her tails wrapped around them.
Classic red bat pose!
First pups of 2017! Two weeks earlier than ever!
Evening bat mum munches a mealworm while her pup nuzzles her.
She sustained wing injuries that grounded her and they suffered ant bites before being rescued.
No small thing to rescue a ball of angry bats covered in ants! You’re a hero Jordan!
The red light is used to minimize stress.
Our Gabe enlightened many students (and even some bigwigs) about bats’ role as pollinators, at the Univ. of Texas Community Science Fair last weekend. The Science Fair preceded a wonderful talk titled “The Buzz About Bees” by Dr. Shalene Jha. Look for a recording of the webcast under “Talk Archives” at http://www.hotsciencecooltalks.org/
Even though eastern red bats are not pollinators, he captured hearts and minds of the crowd and got shout-outs from the speaker and the head of the Environmental Science Institute!
According to DIDEY MONTOYA, Outreach Coordinator, Hot Science – Cool Talks | The University of Texas at Austin | Environmental Science Institute | www.esi.utexas.edu
“We had over 400 attendees, 11 organizations and over 30 volunteers who helped us make our last event of the spring a success. The Environmental Science Institute couldn’t have offered such a great event without the involvement of groups and organizations such as yours. Thank you for helping inspire, engage and excite K-12 students, teachers, parents and the community in general in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The recording of the webcast is now available under the “Talk Archives” section at www.hotsciencecooltalks.org.
We will return next fall with an exciting lineup of STEM professionals ready to share their latest research. If you are not already part of the Hot Science – Cool Talks mailing list and wish to be added, let me know. Thanks again for your help!”
Went batting last night in East Austin. Picked up mostly Tabr (Mexican free-tailed bats) around Mueller Lake Park. Walking through an adjoining neighborhood with streets overhung with elm trees we picked up a beautiful call sequence from a tri-colored bat (Perymyotis subflavus), loud and clear.
We’ve released quite a few over the last year, one earlier this spring. Wonder if that’s her?
Yes, we had the nets set out last night, but they were high in the sky and our targets were night-flying insects, not fish.
We got a very generous invite from John Westbrook of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service to join him and his field tech, the intrepid Mike O’Neil, along with Jason Lim from Rothamsted Research, United Kingdom, for a night of sky fishing in Central Texas.
John is one of the pioneers of radar entomology and the study of the interaction of insects and bats in the aerosphere. His early work with Merlin Tuttle, Tom Kunz, and Gary McCracken was crucial in understanding the role of bats in integrated pest management and their role in the balance of nature. Here is a link to his current study: Monitoring Pest Insect Migration With a Vertical-Looking Entomological Radar https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/project/?accnNo=426761
Jason Lim, of the Radar Entomology Unit at Rothamsted Research, has become the lead builder and software developer for the Vertical Looking Radar (VLR), deployed in only four locations around the world (one in Seguin, TX), to study insect migrations. http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/radar-entomology-unit/. Jason has taken the reigns from Jason Chapman, now that Jason C. has moved on from Rothamsted Research to Exeter University.
Below is a look at a VLR installation and some insect migration tracking data.
We observed (and stayed out of the way) as they (John, Jason, and Mike) deployed a 3.3 meter diameter HeliKite to tow a 1 meter diameter collection net up to 200 meters altitude to sample insects riding the lower jet, as they migrated north with the season.
The VLR (installed a few miles away) tracks migrating insects by quantifying the density, displacement speed and direction, and flight heading of insects at distinct heights.
Our catch will help calibrate the radar data, classifying the insects by their body mass, body shape, and wingbeat frequency, into functional groups of insects, so we know what kind of insects are flying where and when.
Here John notes conditions in his field journal while Mike and Jason start to deploy the kite. |
John attaches the tether sond, which sends atmospheric data back to his laptop. It also tells them when winds are approaching dangerous speeds and must be monitored closely so as not to snap the cable and lose the kite.
The kite is deployed with the catch net 7.5 meters below. The net will stay at 200 meters above ground level for four hours.
Pheromone traps told them which species were present in the local fields. Here is a Corn Earworm Moth. Note the dot on each outer wing and the smudge on the inner wing.
Below are Fall Army Worm moths, much smaller than the CEW moth shown for comparison.
And below we have a Tobacco Bud Worm moth. Wavy lines on the wings help ID it.
Jason Lin tends the line as the net and kite soar high in the sky.
Monitoring conditions: The wind speed increased substantially later from this 6.5 meters per second to around 12 mps, giving the crew some heartburn as it reached the threshold of the line strength. The temperature was quite warm at 175 meters agl, and as the ground cooled with radiative cooling a temperature inversion occurred, allowing conditions for a slipstream of faster wind at 200 meters agl that insects used to their advantage in migration. Their flight speed of 5 mps added to the 12 mps (or 20 mps at times) allows them to cover lots of ground in a night (38-55 mph).
The helium balloon kite, collection net, and tether sond return to ground with the catch, around midnight.
Quite a rig!
What an honor to be allowed to observe John, Mike, and Jason’s last night of fieldwork. Thanks so much to everyone for the generosity!
Here is an evening bat call collected one meter above ground level as the kite was flying. Next time we hope to convince them to take an echolocation recording device along for the ride (pipe dream!). Gary McCracken and Jennifer Krauel have done studies of the variation in echolocation calls of bats at altitude and will be returning this coming June as part of a study designed to correlate the VLR data with NEXRAD radar.
Research Project: Monitoring Pest Insect Migration With a Vertical-Looking Entomological Radar
Location: Insect Control and Cotton Disease Research
Project Number: 3091-22000-033-13-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 1, 2014
End Date: Sep 30, 2017
Objective:
The project will quantify seasonal flight patterns and behaviors of migratory pest insects in the lowest 2,000 m of the atmospheric boundary layer. Specific objectives are to: (1) identify the relative abundance of various classes of insects based on radar-derived parameters of body size, body shape, flight speed and flight heading; (2) relate profiles of insect density, flight behavior, and atmospheric parameters; and (3) relate radar parameterizations of insect flight activity using a Vertical Looking Radar (VLR) and a National Weather Service Doppler radar (NEXRAD).
Approach:
Rothamsted Research has developed a VLR that is capable of detecting insects within the lowest 2,000 m of the atmosphere. The VLR is capable of quantifying the density, displacement speed and direction, and flight heading of insects at distinct ranges, and classifying the detected insects by their body mass, body shape, and wingbeat frequency. The automated VLR will continually record measurements of daytime and nighttime insect flight activity in the atmospheric boundary layer. The VLR will be shipped to Texas in late September 2015. Additionally, the cooperator and two colleagues will travel to Texas to install the VLR approximately 20 km east of the National Weather Service Doppler radar (NEXRAD) at New Braunfels in late September 2015 and conduct intensive insect migration field studies in early October 2015. Cooperator will also travel to Texas to conduct intensive insect migration field studies in late March 2016 and late June 2016. ARS scientists will join the UK scientists during the intensive insect migration field studies at the VLR site and will be responsible for checking insect traps, surveying insect infestations in crops, and measuring insect flight activity using aerial insect nets and imaging systems. Local NEXRAD measurements of radar reflectivity and Doppler velocity will be analyzed relative to the VLR data and entomological field observations. ARS scientists will inspect the VLR system operation and download VLR data weekly. The experimental radar deployment will be continued until October 2016.