Kendra and Scott took me to see the "Congress Avenue bats" this evening. We had a nice dinner at a pub close to the bat viewing area and then walked over as evening settled in. On the way we passed the city's bat sculpture - they really appreciate them here!
I've always been fascinated by bats and Austin has them by the thousands. Actually some estimates say this time of year, when the pups are flying with their mothers, they have up to 1.5 million of them. And they are credited with eating from 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects per night....that's a lot of bugs!
Austin has been home to bats for many years, but after the Congress Avenue bridge over Lady Bird Lake was renovated in 1980 they found the new design provided a hang out. Narrow but deep openings in between the uprights in the photo below turned out to be perfect accommodations.
The Statesman, Austin's newspaper, has built a nice little park right under the bridge, beside the river, where people gather and wait until dark when the furry little guys to take flight. The park has a small kiosk and several signs with bat-related information. There are also tour boats, and private craft, in the river to get that particular perspective. They shine red spotlights up under the bridge to illuminate the bats, and once the colony gets moving its like shaking pepper in front of a fan. I've never seen so many of anything flying all at once like that...amazing! And considering they are all eating mosquitoes, it's a lovely site!A local society has been formed to help promote the bats and provide education. They have a nice site with a lot of information: History of Freetail Bats in Austin
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