Bat Falcon!

Bats! Fuck! What is the deal with bats???? Well, bats aren't exactly a scientific enigma, but I don't see a whole lot of them. I was birding the Los Capitancillos Ponds recently when a big bat flew by in broad daylight. It was a hoary bat, one of the big bat species found throughout the United States. They stay active throughout the winter in the southern part of their range (many other species hibernate). I'm not sure what this individual was up to exactly, but it's diurnal adventure suddenly veered toward disaster right in front of my eyes.

The local American Kestrel that has been wintering here decided that the bat was a prey item - it went in for the kill! I was shocked. Kestrels typically seem so focused on little things on the ground, not this sort of hairy flying thing.

I rarely see kestrels go after anything as big as a hoary, and as you can guess I'd never seen a kestrel go after a bat of any kind. Even a kestrel in frenzied aerial pursuit is rare to see, that's much more of a Merlin thing.

This wasn't a playful chase on the kestrel's part, it was definitely a concerted effort to take the bat down. Horrifying for the bat, no doubt, but awesome to watch!

The kestrel did make contact with the bat at one point, but the bat persevered and was able to escape with its life. Kestrels are known to prey on bats, but this is the first time I'd seen it. Good aerial drama at the local patch!

The Face Of Clean Energy

The face of clean energy is not necessarily a pleasant one.

Summer is coming to a head here in Pennsylvania. It looks like summer. It feels like summer. The corn is high, the grass is green, the trees are leafy and luxurious, the cicadas are loud, the fireflies are out. The weather is hot and humid, and thunderstorms threaten us daily.

But summer, my friends, is gone. Where did it go? I couldn't tell you for sure. But one theory put forth by the great ornithologist Felonious Jive suggests that summer is physically torn from the land and carried away, piece by piece, by the millions of birds and bats that have already begun their steady migration South. The metaphysics involved this undertaking are staggering, to say the least, but I think this is the most scientifically sound theory, by far, that has surfaced in the public consciousness.

Fall migration has been interesting so far, although not overwhelming. I did manage to find a breeding plumaged Sabine's Gull at a nearby lake, which constitutes the state's 13th or 14th record if The Bird Police deem it to be worthy.....but if not, who really cares? Everything seems to be flocking together, and I think some migratory goodness is bound to come my way pretty soon....although I do enjoy the summer holdover Upland Sandpipers at our project site, and I hope they stick around for a couple more weeks.

More and more bats are showing up under the turbines, and it makes me wonder how many will fall to rotor blades across the country this year. It must be a staggering number. The study I am working on is the first of it's kind in the United States (and third in the world) to see how reduced cut-in speed (i.e. slowing down the speed at which the rotor blades turn) can affect bat mortality, and the results are pretty positive so far....roughly 70% reduction in mortality rates at the curtailed (slowed) turbines with marginal power loss as a result. In other words, the juice is worth the squeeze.

With wind energy projects popping up everywhere faster than you can say "Republicans hate poor people", it is crucial that people are aware of what they can do to wildlife. Hopefully these bats (Hoary above, Little Brown below) didn't die terrible, gruesome, painful deaths for no reason at all.



This duder has been dead for a few days.....its covered in maggots from the inside out. Delish.