Gone Batty [or A Visit To The Old Railroad Tunnel]

See the other end? With a good camera, I bet one could capture a photo of the bats.

 
Between me and the moonlight flitted a great bat, 

comeing [sic] and going in great, whirling circles. 

~Bram Stoker, Dracula

I start with a warning. DO NOT EXPECT PHOTOS OF BATS!

Why no bats? Well, unlike drought years when we saw very few bats,* this has been a wet year. There is plenty of food for the bats. So they have grown a little more relaxed. The bats don't have to go far for food so they can leave the tunnel later in the day.

A late start means low light. Low light means bad photos. There - don't take a cell phone to a bat emergence if you want good photos.

And at Old Tunnel State Park** emergence should just be experienced. Put your camera/phone away and "feel the bats."

We sat with about 40 others on the lower level.*** A first few bats flew overhead - 4 feet or so. This was in daylight and there was no mistaking the shape and movement. Then, as it grew dark, our eyes were mostly attracted to the fireflies (one flew to my face - I wonder if the reflection on my glasses drew him to me).

Soon the swirl of bats increased. They spiral counterclockwise along what used to be railway about 15 feet from where we sat.  Many curved just overhead and we would make out the swirl of bats moving up and south-southeast to the Guadalupe River (for a drink) before the hunt began.

What does this band of 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats hunt? The corn earworm moth**** is their primary food. These bats are our friends.

There are also 3,000 cave myotis (Myotis velifer) bats here as well. Apparently the cave myotis let the free-tails go first so we are fairly sure we missed that emergence. These guys are REALLY our friends as they are mosquito eaters.

In any event, we saw bats. We experienced bats so close that we could have reached out a hand and touched one [BUT DON'T TOUCH THE BATS!]. It was a very strange and wonderful experience.

Our TP&W guide,***** a wildlife biologist, was wonderful too. She loves bats and shared an appreciation of them with us.

The rest of this adventure was a lovely walk (except for the odor emanating from the tunnel). There is a small hiking area for visitors who arrive before 5:00 p.m. We arrived entirely too early for a Thursday and too late for a true hike. We wandered a bit and then waited. Flies detected the scent of fruit in my backpack and we had to remove it to the car. And we waited.

People gathered.

Darkness fell.

The bats emerged.

Amazing.

At this time of year Blue mistflower=Queen butterflies

I now appreciate the Wildscapes found at the entrance/headquarters of most Texas Parks and Wildlife property.

Can you find the grasshopper?

Yes, this is what it looks like - rolling hills and scrub.

Old Man's Beard at a turn in the path.

I noticed the soft filaments carrying seeds along the ground (rough path here - watch your step) and looked up to see the vine.

The signage here was excellent.

What would you like to know about the Mexican Free-tailed bat?

Warning

We can see the entrance to the tunnel (or it it the exit?) from the lower viewing area. The other end of the tunnel is on private land.

Part of the path. DH is carrying the backpack.

Just past these two trees is a bridge where one can view the tunnel. I thought I had a photo of DH here, but do not.

From the bridge you can hear this tiny stream and watch the bats flying around inside the tunnel. Apparently there are always bats flying (they take turns!) keeping the air moving.

I did not have a good camera, but I think there are a few bats dark against the other opening to the tunnel as well as light against the closer opening on the left hand side.

I wouldn't go in there - even if it didn't smell terrible.

More of the path. It would be a nice hike. On the lower right, note the limestone "brick." We saw many of these used to identify plants and trees.

"Bat Crossing" sign - high in the trees.

We waited for the sun to go down.

This is why it smells bad....but I love beetles anyway.

I love the tenacity of trees, rooted in the rocky soil here, clinging to the edge of the hill.

People started to gather.

We had a decent patch of sky from our viewing point.

Our biologist guide

A dark smudge across the darkening sky.

Cell phone photos in the dark - I hope theirs were better than mine.

I caught a few more "smudges" of bats. Then we sat and quietly experienced the fluttering around us and the swirls of creatures as they headed out into the night.

NOTES:

*Our previous experience has been at the Devil's Sinkhole Natural Area near Rock Springs, Texas (http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/devils-sinkhole). There are more bats at the Devil's Sinkhole and the exit straight up. But we have been there when the drought resulted in a huge reduction in population. No longer 6 million strong - try a few hundred bats that year.

**http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/old-tunnel [Good photo here]

***Folks on the upper level are looking down at the bats. When there is a late emergence the upper level sees nothing as the bats are dark against the dark woods/treeline. Those sitting on the lower level see the bats against the sky and the sky remains bright enough to see the bats long past sundown.

****http://texasinsects.tamu.edu/cimg319.html

*****We did not get her full name. I think she said her first name was "Nyla" or something like that. She was great...sharing information about other opportunities for observing bat emergence. She even has me thinking about heading to west Texas where the largest variety of Texas bats live.