Bats Under the Congress Street Bridge...

While in the city of Austin, Tx. last week we took some grandkids to see the bats. Austin is the home to the largest urban free tailed bat colony in North America. They inhabit the Congress Street bridge from March to November and people come to enjoy the free show in the evening as they fly out at sunset to feed on insects.   

We killed some time along the shore of Ladybird Lake. The second bridge in the photo upstream is the Congress St. bridge. We had seen the bats before but the kids had not so as a treat we booked on Lonestar Cruises for something different. Since we were camping we arrived early and the cruise people said, "ya'll early, find some some conditioning." Not really an option as we were camping at Perdarneles Falls State Park so we just hung out which being so early with no one else around gave the kids a caution that perhaps this was something only Pop Pop was interested in but all boats were full when for the tours.    

Good sunset views and probably in this photo the temperature had dropped a little under 100 degrees. I had seen the bats before from under the sound end of the bridge while sitting on a blanket so the tour price, which included a senior discount was great.  

I think this boat was Capitol Cruises. Not to slag the competition but this boat seemed a bit down in the nose. Our tour guide mentioned in case of accident just walk to shore so the lake must be shallow but glad I went with Lonestar. 

I mentioned our early arrival and another early arrival was a young woman interviewing for a job with this cruise service which offers various party and sightseeing packages. I overheard her and the others talking about doing stand up comedy. I've come to realize that stand up comedy for this generation has taken the place of singing "Hickory Wind" around a campfire for my generation and during the tour the guide was quite the show, accepted tips and it was the performance of the whole 9 yards. More power to them because when I was singing "Hickory Wind" around the fire I did not know I was headed for a career that's mostly playing for funerals.

Our guide did say he was a proud UT alumni so I did wonder what his day job was.    

They are out on the river on everything that floats. Lots of paddle boards and as I had recently acquired a paddle board from my friend Darwin I studied techniques and it was worth noting that many people on the river used their boards sitting down, squatting or had a small ice chest used as seating. I was able to stand and paddle on my board and it was easy to see I could improve but now I think I'll just join the rest of the sitters. 

The last time I saw the bats I recall it was as if on cue they flowed out of the bridge like a black chem trail stream across the sky and off down the river. This flight was more of a slow burn swarm best visible directly under the bridge with the guide boats using the red light to highlight the bats. If you note the crowd on the north end of the bridge they probably saw no bats and I doubt those on the other end or at the walk ways over the bridge saw many. The boat was a good choice and the guide did mention it was birthing season so I think this was the expected outcome by the tour.   

A good skyline view which is quite different with many changes. I have not hung around Austin much for about 15 years now and it is not the city I traveled to as a young man for music and fun but there are still nice things to see.