Thursday 20 August 2009

Bats drive me batty

Not that I am trying to get rid of them! No, no.
I recall a lovely canoe with my daughter several years ago. We canoed by the shore in the dusk, on a quiet night (no power boats!), and the bats dipped and dived overhead. We cheered them on, knowing they were eating the bugs around us. Unafraid, they have such incredible navigation systems, it was fascinating watching them.

Muskoka Bird Board lots of links to birding and nature sights!

UPDATE: Grizzly managed to capture some excellent shots- after some hard work!

I put up a bat house that seems to have location malfunction - or maybe too, too vigilant cats? I have had not takers, which is fine as natural shelters are working for them. This one was visiting the carport.

My blogger friends celebrate wildlife in so many ways. They are my inspiration. I follow many in awe. I highlight a few memorable (and findable) posts here:
To this end, my goal was to videotape the bats. At dusk, I headed out. Underdressed for the dang mosquitoes. First mistake. (Yes, they got me! duH, with a capital 'H'. All my dragonfly sentinel friends were sleeping.)
I had limited success, unless you have an eagle eye. You'll have to rewind. I shall work on this challenge another time!

For a terrific couple of bat photos visit the Sycamore Canyon's post. The bats are visiting a hummingbird feeder!

See also:
Bill Bat Boy has some interesting information about bats on his website.
And last year's post. Bats in our Belfry

4 comments:

Jain said...

The shout-out was a pleasant surprise, Jenn. I consider you a blogger friend, too, and thought of you when I was in Ontario last weekend. Perhaps next trip, I'll make it farther north.

The (Canadian made!) bug suit in action is here:
http://bankside-jms.blogspot.com/2009/07/july-5-2009.html and can be purchased here:
http://bugshirt.com/
They're worth every penny!

Gaelyn said...

Bats are so cool to watch. Love those little insect eaters. Glad you have them around.

Thanks much for the mention. Good luck on the video.

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

I think bats are cool. Great post. As a child my brother and I used to throw rocks up in the air when bats were around. They would go check them out as they were flying. I know that isn't very smart but hey we were kids.

Lorac said...

It took some long term convincing for my granddaughters to believe bats were good! Good post. Not everyone knows how good they are.