Bat Watching III: Twilight Cruise

I went bat-watching with Pipistrelle (resident bat expert) twice this week, and the skies above Prospect Park are chock-a-block with these guys. We seem to see more every time we go. Last night we had the not-to-be-missed experience of the twilight cruise in the park's electric boat, followed by a bat watching expedition to the Binnen Bridge with park naturalist Paul Keim.

Some highlights of the trip:

• They had wine and cheese before the boat ride and then again before the bat walk! It really made for a jovial crowd.
• The bird activity at dusk. We spotted several black-crowned night herons, a green heron, a red-winged blackbird, wood ducks, and chimney swifts, which magically "transform" into bats around 8:45, when the feeding periods of the two animals overlap. We also heard quite a few birds, including an especially chatty catbird.
• One of the women on the cruise, a long time resident of the area, recounted how she used to rent ice skates for 10 cents at the boathouse and then skate down the watercourse. Hard to imagine all of that water freezing today. She said the scenery then was lovely, but she prefers the current state of the park to the deteriorating structures she remembers from childhood.
• Paul Keim's encyclopedic knowledge of park history, flora and fauna. His first love was birding, but he's quite knowledgeable about insects and bats as well.
• The Pettersson D-100, a bat detector that picks up their ultrasonic echolocaton signals. It adds a thrilling dimension to the visual aerobatics. It's like the difference between watching a WWI dogfight with sound vs. without.
• Someone spotted a butterfly known as a the "Question Mark" (Polygonia interrogationis) on the boat's canopy. I snapped a photo, which turned out pretty good despite the low light. If you click on the thumbnail image you can see the characteristic white marking on the underside of the wing for which the butterfly is named.

As usual, I took a few photos...

My best bat photo yet. This is probably a little brown (although the wingspan was about 9 inches). There are also big brown bats and red bats, and possibly even  hoary bats and silver- haired bats in the park.
The mighty "Independence"	Paul Keim says "Bat Detector: Don't Leave Home Without It."
The  stalwart captain, and his merry passengers embark.
A "Question Mark." There is also a species known as the "Comma." Click the image for a close-up of the distinguishing white mark.	Phragmites australis, an invasive aquatic plant that once so choked Prospect Park watercourses that the ponds had to be completely drained to remove the root systems. Because it grows in place of native plants, it is sometimes called "Lieu Reed."

 

Don't forget to visit The Friday Ark at Modulator for more pics of critters both spined and spineless.

Comments

[native plants]

TN Nursery is a state certified tree nursery specializing in native plants and trees, shrubs, fern, and perennials as well as pond plants and wetland mitigation.

[Da Nator]

That's it - I've got to go on one of these bat tours! As long as I don't melt first, that is...

Great photos.

[Pipistrelle]

My God, that pun was so rank I can smell it from here!

Someone Mite just Phrag you for puns that bad.