Bats!

Some great field reports and amazing recordings of bat sounds.

Tim Prebble’s post on flying foxes recording in Samoa:

Flying Foxes are a kind of nocturnal bat, found only in Samoa & Fiji. They feed primarily on fruit and have a wing span up to 3 feet. But it seems they are more often heard than seen. Last time I stayed at Lucias Lagoon in Savaii, Samoa I heard them in the distance but due to the loud music from a nearby bar I never got to record them properly. This time I stayed up late and wandered around until I found the tree they were in and then recorded until I got too tired and sleepy to continue…. I had a pretty powerful LED torch with me but would only catch glimpses of them as they flew around the top of a very tall tree….But it was the sound I was after….

[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/timprebble/flying-foxes-savaii”]

Sounds of fruit bats (same as flying foxes) by Andrew Spitz. This time the sound was captured in Monrovia.

After a little confrontation from the Liberian equivilent of Area Boys [left pic], we managed to get to an awesome location by the river. There was a tree [right pic] swarming with hundreds of very vocal fruit bats. I couldn’t resist, and ditched the team in favor of the bats.

[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/soundplusdesign/fruitbats-calm”]

And last but not least, bat (and bees) recordings by Frank Bry in North Idaho

Over the weekend I was hanging out on my deck enjoying a cup of coffee and the view and from above my head I heard this maniacal squeaking. It was coming from the peak of my roof and I knew it was my bats…. they must of been doing something X-Rated. When I rebuilt my roof a few years ago I thought I had blocked off the peak with some screen door mesh but it seems the bats have found a way in. Nature is wonderful, always finds a way.

[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/therecordist/the-bats-and-the-bees”]