Harvey
Here we go.
Austin bat
SLO-MO Moth Roll
Moth Roll – In the Calm Before the Storm
Swoop Zone SLO-MO
Swoop Zone SLO-MO
Happy No-Sun-Day
Happy No-Sun-Day! Don’t look at the sun! We love the moon! The oak leaves left crescents on the flight cage pond liner below!
Shhhh!!
Shhhh!! Our sleepy red boy is enjoying an afternoon nap on his leaf hammock! Nothing looks more comfortable to a foliage roosting bat than a big green leaf to lay on!
Jam Session
Are these pups playing tag or is this a jam session? Mexican free-tailed bats have been documented to jam each other’s echolocation signals when competition for food gets intense (see Aaron Corcoran’s research at http://sonarjamming.com) . Do eastern red bats do the same in similarly competitive situations? Here in the flight cage, there are not enough moths for all the 30 plus flying rehab bats. Is this pup following his sibling to practice jamming his call and stealing the moth? Or just playing?
Cow Pea Patrol
Patrolling the cow peas. Good little helper!
Black Light Action
Action under the black light last night. Moths attracted by the garden, moth pheromones, night-blooming plants, and the water all tend to congregate around the blacklight.
Our juvenile bats fly in wide loops tangent to the light and hope they time it right so they get the chance to practice their hunting skills.
Red Skypuppy
This eastern red girl is from the family brought in by Evan Alcantara from Salem Hill Drive in Austin.
They have thrived here at the Refuge given a second chance and we’re thrilled that they’ll be back out in the wild as soon as the weather breaks.
Here she’s performing a flip-turn at the palm fronds as she shreds the flight cage.
Saturday Night Flights
Great emergence at Congress Avenue Bridge tonight. Great fun talking to the tourists from all over the world. Especially the wonderful family from New Jersey whose daughter is going for her Girl Scout Silver Award by creating this website https://sites.google.com/site/maketheworldabattierplace/ Check it out!
They are multi-national, with family from Italy, Spain, and Venezuela and we had great fun surfing Google Earth together. Thanks y’all!
Mount Roraima, Venezuela!