One of the creatures I love seeing in the early evening sky in are the bats.
I recently came across hundreds of bats hanging in some trees adjacent to a small river when driving along the Clarence Way in New South Wales.
In looking online to learn more about the bats I learnt that this colony/grouping of bats is called a 'camp'.
The the Flying Fox Bats were hanging in trees next to a bridge I had been about to drive over (yes, squealing of brakes, reversing up and stopping to take pics for about an hour) which afforded me a higher-than-normal view of the bats as they hung about during the day.
These grey-headed flying foxes were captivating to watch as they groomed, interacted and generally hung about. Fascinating.
The wing spans of the adults was very impressive and the website linked to above indicates their wingspan can be up to 1meter !! I believe it.
It was also interesting to learn that they are vital to the health and regeneration of Australian native forests because they can transport pollen over vast distances and are also able to disperse larger seeds.
I love the moments when they turned to look at me.
That moment of interaction when you look into a wild creatures eyes.
And as you can see, they are quite agile & flexible.
This one below appears to be doing an intense back stretch.
In this slightly soft image below this flexible bat has its wings outstretched fully while rotating up and around... and not falling out of the tree!
They have such beautiful feet. Obviously very strong to support them hanging all day without exhausting them.
This one in the pic below appears to be giving one of its feet a rest, hanging on with one foot and one wing.
I enjoyed watching & listening to them grooming and socialising in their 'camp'.
This pic below shows how much they look like foxes.
Marvellous creatures.
To learn more about bats visit the webpage of NSW Govt native animal facts.
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