A Grey-headed Flying Fox..or two

The day was dark, wet and gloomy when we chanced upon a colony of flying fox. I suppose “chance” had not much to do with finding them Just follow the noise! As I got closer, the noise got louder and louder.


The big picture

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All comments are welcome!

Technical Details ISO1600 70-200@200mm f9 1/1000 Hand Held

Is this a composite: No

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Great image of the tight cluster of those little fellas. I might burn down the white sky? in the ULC but that is the only thought that comes to mind for processing.

Now that’s a hang out!

Sorry.

What an intriguing phenomenon. Do they do this all the time or only when it’s cold? The first image is great for its intimacy. It looks a tad cyan to me and maybe could use a touch more contrast. The second brings out a bit more scale of the colony size. Do you have the whole tree? Bats are such wondrous creatures and these big ones are especially appealing. Great job in the gloom to present more cheerful images.

Glennie, the tight view with lots of bats nicely sharp is excellent. They’re clearly awake and many are looking at you. Will they fly if you get too close?

Wow! What an amazing find! That must have been awesome to be there in person. They are so cute! I love how they are looking at you with such inquisitive, wide eyes, so much intelligence there. Beautiful capture!

Thank you Harley! That’s a grat idea about that left corner!

Thank you Kristen! The hangout sure is batty!
I’ll check the first image for the cyan. I’m always worried I’ll go overboard on Contrast, si I’ll check that out.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the whole tree just big pieces of it.
Bats are, by most people, misunderstood. They are beautiful and extremely intelligent. In a past life, I was a wildlife carer. Many of my chargess were precious, baby bats.

Thank you Mark. Once settled in for the day, the bats will generally stay in the roost. But sure, if there was a lot of disturbance, either from snakes , raptors or people they will fly, but come back to the roost quickly.

Thank you for helping them. I also love bats. When I lived in NH, I went out on a nighttime bat walk and search with the local Audubon group. It was great. A couple of years ago my hubby bought me this book and I love it -

Loads of info about different species and great photos.

Glennie: I can’t recall ever seeing a better bat shot except with the possible exception of some in flight captures from auto flash set ups but this environmental look is exceptional. As many mosquitos as we have around here I’ll take all the bats who care to show up. Terrific find and a superb capture. :+1: :+1:>=))>