August 3, 2006
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Gone Batty!
This is a shot of the bats that congregate in Austin. The “swarm” in the sky is them as well as the trail on the right side of the photo (click to enlarge). Quite amazing to see them at dusk. The Congress Avenue bridge in downtown Austin is the spring and summer home to some 750,000 bats with up to 1.5 million bats at the peak of the bat-watching season. It’s the largest urban bat colony in North America. For more info on Congress Avenue bats, go here—> Austin Bats!
Comments (19)
Wow, that’s a lot of bats. They must not have too bad of a mosquito problem around those parts eh?
Hopefully not the blood sucking variety!
Oh that is so awesome. I’m a massive fan of bats — amazing creatures.
Why are there so many bats there? Judi
Bats are bad ass!!! I LOVE them!!!
Creepy!
she told me to tell you thankyou
i remember going on bike rides with my family around town lake and seeing the bats under the bridges along the bike trail.
i love austin. and if you’re still there…check out the Oasis. beautiful views of the lake..and go at sunset.
Memories of a good trip and in good company too, right? Just a thought. I wonder who counts the little critters?
Mom
Very cool! It’s a wonder someone hasn’t killed them all already. We seem to love to kill things for little or no reason.
Beautiful memories, when I was about 16 we went to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. I persuaded Dad and Mom to linger so we could see the bats come out for the evening. I remember that the ranger tolds they had to fly 150 miles just to get a drink of water. Dry country down there.
ryc: Yeah, metabolism just isn’t the same anymore. *pouts*
Wow…that is a lot of bats there. Scary!!!
Hope you have a truly wonderful day.
amazing,, i’d love to see that….
*~matthew~*
ryc: I think it had an empty feeling to it because my life was really empty at the time– I think it captures that time in my life perfectly. I was about 26.
I took the picture for my first photography class, but I don’t think I ever printed it. I’m in the process of cleaning out my house, and found all my old negatives–so cool! I’m taking another darkroom class this fall, and will print some of them and see what I get.
I love photography.
Whoa, I had no idea that bats hung around like that. RYC: thanks for checking out the blog and leaving a comment. It’s really nice to correspond with people back home when traveling, keeps a sense of connectedness even as I travel a place I don’t know and try to figure out a language I don’t understand.
I visited there last year when I went on a company trip to Austin and my boss took his wife and kids and me down to the bridge to see the bats. It was really amazing.
that cloud in the distance is made up of bats…man, the guano must be deep near there! great pic..
johnm
nice pic. i used to live in houston and we’d go up to austin to check out the bats. it was the most awesome display of living creatures i’ve ever seen. there’s a place near the end of the bridge where they hang out at, and on this certain ledge you can lean over and hold your hand out when they’re taking off and the they stream over your arm, barely missing it, like a rush of black water. very cool. tim