07 June 2013

Bats Over Austin

Austin, Texas Congress Avenue Bridge // Bats // Ten Feet Off Beale
Ten Feet Off Beale in Austin, Texas // Congress Avenue Bridge

Did you know Austin has the largest urban bat colony in the world? It's true! The Congress Avenue bridge, right in the heart of downtown Austin, is the home to about 750,000 bats! (There are even up to a million bats there during peak bat-watching season)

It's an incredible sight to see all the bats leave the bridge at dusk to hunt. These bats get alot of attention. Tons of people gather every night to watch the bats all fly out from under the bridge by the thousands.

We had the opportunity to see this amazing sight while we were visiting Texas. We got there a little early to get a good spot under the bridge. Even though I couldn't see any bats under the bridge, you could hear them (and smell them.. gross).

Right as the sun was setting, and the crowd was thickening, they started to fly out. It's pretty surreal. Apparently from a distance, it looks like smoke billowing from under the bridge. From our vantage point, it was just a steady stream of bats. It seemed never ending!
 
Congress Avenue Bridge Bat Watching // Ten Feet Off Beale
Congress Avenue Bridge Bats // Ten Feet Off Beale

I tried to get a picture, but those little buggers were flying so fast! See those little black blurry speckles in the middle of the picture? Those are the bats! Our view looked like that for at least 15 minutes. It was really a very interesting thing to see. Nature is so amazing.


PS. Are you tired of seeing pictures of Austin yet? Sorry!! The city totally stole my heart. It's truly a gorgeous place. 

 

9 comments:

  1. I bet that was so cool to see!! I love fun quirky things like that about cities. :)

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  2. Wow, never knew that! Seems like such a spectacle too! Fun!

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  3. I was in Austin for a conference last year and I got to see the bats. It was a neat thing to watch.

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  4. Literally, everytime I go to Austin, I plan on seeing the bats and something comes up. I'll have to add it to the list.

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  5. I've seen the bats once and it was amazing!! We were on top of the bridge though, so they were swarming all over our heads.

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  6. Do that many people come to watch them every night? Crazy!!! (and really cool)

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  7. I couldn't help myself either ;) I'm loving these awesome photo dumps! I love seeing different cities through other people's eyes. I've never been there before, but you really make me want to visit!

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  8. i'm terrified of bats! i read once they always exit left when leaving a cave.

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