Bat enthusiasts of all ages converged on Seba Playground, at the intersection of Seba and Gerritsen Avenues, in droves, on Thursday evening, August 14th, suffused in citronella, fully prepared to brave the mosquito-ridden backwoods of Gerritsen Beach, where no amount of bug spray is ever enough to repel the bloodsucking hordes.
As Roxanne Quilty, executive director of the Gotham Bat Conservancy, explained to the large group of chiropterophiles who had come to admire local bats in their natural habitat, the buggiest of areas are the best places to find bats. That is because New York bats are insectivores, some capable of eating as many as 10,000 mosquitoes in a single evening!
Quilty began the “Bats! Night Walk” event with a captivating presentation, dispelling many of the most common myths about bats and providing an excellent introduction to the nine species of bats found in New York and their usual haunts. Most were surprised to learn that bats are one of the few pollinators of night-blooming species of plants, like agave and banana, and that female bats exhibit strong site fidelity, meaning they return to the same maternal roost each year, raising their young communally.
The group also learned that bat populations are more threatened than ever before, due to a lethal, endemic fungal disease called White Nose Syndrome or pseudogymnoascus destructans, which is characterized by a white, fuzzy growth on the bats’ muzzles, ears and wings. Quilty also discussed the science behind bioacoustics and echolocation and shared how acoustic monitoring helps the Conservancy to understand where and how bats live and informs targeted conservation strategies.
After dark, Quilty led the eager group of bat lovers through the backwoods, deep into the bush, well past the airfield and down several paths, where they successfully observed bats flying overhead and were able to witness the process of acoustic monitoring firsthand. The event was really quite a thrill and as one participant explained, “well worth the bug bites” he had endured.
To learn more about the Gotham Bat Conservancy’s work, visit https://www.gothambatcon.org or https://www.marineparkalliance.org for future events.
