“These tomatoes are almost as red as my fur! Looks like they are ready to be eaten!”- Gabe the red bat

This season’s garden is a hit! Our flight cage is bursting with summer colors as our cherry tomatoes ripen, and our eastern red bats enjoy pampering from volunteers. The garden growing within the flight cage offers a natural, and energized environment for our bats. By attracting moths, the garden allows bats to practice their predatory skills during flight. Offering bats in rehabilitation an opportunity to exercise behaviors that are necessary to survival in the wild make the flight cage and the bat garden an important part of our rehabilitation process. An appreciation for the summer crop is shared by the bats and also our volunteers, who enjoy snacking on sweet, refreshing cherry tomatoes while working hard in the summer heat

Image may contain: food

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?

tri-colored bat call sequence


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.
Verical Looking Radar, insect migration, radar

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.radar, insect migration, helikite

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.
radar, moth migration, helikite
radar, insect migration, helikite

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.
corn moth, corn earworm moth, insect migration, radar corn moth, corn earworm moth, insect migration

Below are Fall Army Worm moths, much smaller than the CEW moth shown for comparison.
fall army worm moth, insect migration, radar fall army worm moths, moth migration, radar

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.
Jason Lin, insect migration, helikite

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).
insect migration, radar, helikite

The helium balloon kite, collection net, and tether sond return to ground with the catch, around midnight.
radar, insect migration, helikite

Quite a rig!
helikite, insect migration, radar

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.
Nyhu evening bat at HeliKite field, bat call Nyhu bat call

 

 

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.


What a great week this has been out in Tucson, Arizona!  We got to participate in the first bat echolocation symposium that has taken place for 15 years, as experts from around the world discussed their life-long research on bat neurophysiology, bat behavioral ecology, and bat conservation science.

bat echolocation symposium tucson  bat echolocation symposium Tucson

Below left:  A call sequence from a Myotis yumanensis (Yuma myotis) recorded during the Symposium.
Below right: An analysed call taken from that sequence.
bat detectors  bat detectors, bat walk
Below: Passive monitoring during the Symposium.  The Sonoran Desert had sprung to life that week.  The ocotillo was blooming everywhere.
passive monitoring at the Symposiumpassive monitoring setup
Below:  Active monitoring under the palms at a Tucson park.  Western yellows and velifers were common.
bat walk Tucson next in Austin

Below:  The group gathers at dusk, cementing new friendships over a last night of batting.
Chris Corben creator of Anabat, and Joe Szewczak creator of SonoBat, shared their expertise.
bat eholocation bat detectors

Below: How wonderful to see these bat experts, know to us previously only by their research, out in the field celebrating the joy of batting.  There some bat big shots in this walkabout and they all retain the sense of wonder that drew them to the field.
bat detectors, echolocation

Joe Szewczak (left) shares with Martyn, Toby, Alice, Katherine, and Brian.
bat detectors, echolocation

Thanks so much everyone for freely sharing your knowledge and vision all for the greater good of bat conservation.
We dearly hope it will lead to a lifetime of collaboration and friendships.

 


We had a blast at the Texas Night Sky Festival on Saturday March 18th.
We met so many people and introduced them all to Buffy, Gabe, Freida, and Nikita.
It was so much fun to see all those smiling faces.
Thanks Kyndal Irwin for spending the last day of SXSW with us out in Dripping Springs!
You were so great with all those kids!  We’re proud to know you!


We are so happy to be a part of the wonderful Austin non-profit community!
Here is a great overview of all the creative organizations making a difference in the Austin area.
And our PSA by bat caregiver Kyndal Irwin is the second one, at the 10 minute mark of this 2 hour video, just before Rebecca Campbell with the Austin Film Society!


This little freebie male is one of 8 intakes this week and he’s been showing great flight skills in the aviary. We finally found him roosting with Taz the cave myotis and fed him full with bugs. This video shows him heading up into the bat box for soft-release. There is backup food and water and even lots of company with the wild freetails that have taken to the box this spring.
So go with God little bat; you were lots of fun!  Live and long and happy life!

free-tailed bat austin bat