"Bat Night", Oracle State Park, 25 July 2015

Bat Night began at 7:30pm at the Kannally Ranch House with a 30 minute PowerPoint introduction to the bats of Arizona by Research Ecologist and Regional Manager for Arizona Game and Fish, Joel Diamond, Ph.D. The talk was followed by a netting event. This evening program was an opportunity to learn more about bats and get up close and personal to some of the flying mammal species living in our neighborhood.

Just prior to the talk a beautiful Arizona sunset was seen from the Kannally Ranch House patio:

A large and very interested audience was on hand for Dr. Diamond's excellent presentation:

The introductions were livestreamed on Twitter:

Click or tap on image view the 83 second video

Following the talk the group headed out to a remote area of the Park to see some live bats:

A large net had been set up to safely capture some bats, which then had to be removed from the netting:

The net also captured large bugs:

We then got to see the bats that had been captured:

After everyone got to see the bats they were released into the moonlit sky:

The night at Oracle State Park was warm and partly cloudy and made for exciting and educational experience. Some stars were visible, as seen in this view of the constellation Sagittarius above a tree:

Thanks to Dr. Diamond for a wonderful evening at Oracle State Park.

You can learn about one of the effects of Light Pollution on bats from this recent article.

Go back to the ODSC Home Page.