Observaciones de val_la_may

The LRFFs have moved upriver about 50m to new trees. They are spread across 4 trees very close to the River. Most are roosting in dense clusters. Difficult to count them, as the view is obscured by foliage. About 600 in the camp; studied with binocs.

Audio obtained using my iPhone with Rode Reporter app. Edited & amplified with Audacity software. A bit of river noise in the background & Little Ravens calling.

UPDATE: 22/3/24, about 10:30AM, the bats have gone. I hadn’t checked them since the 9th of March.

Close-up photos by Pat Feehan. 3 of the photos show a few LRFFs in the same trees as GHFF. Mostly the LRFFs are in separate trees, usually lower to the ground than the GHFFs. Several Silver Wattles are so weighed down with LRFFs that from a distance the trees look pure brown. Thousands in the camp.

UPDATE: 25/2/24: now that most of the GHFFs have gone, the bat camp is in 3 Silver Wattles close to the River. The bats are very densely packed as usual. About 600 in the camp. The audio file has Kookaburras in the background for part of the recording. The Kookas flew past the LRFFs and upset them, that's how I got the recording.
Audio obtained using my iPhone with Rode Reporter app. Edited with Audacity software.

Photos by Pat Feehan. Two of the photos show a few Little Red Flying Fox in the same tree as the Grey-headed. There are now thousands of bats in the camp. When a person walked through the camp, all the Grey-headed flew up & milled around over the River.

UPDATE: on 24/2/24 a friend told me all the GHFFs had gone. I checked the camp at 11:30 on 25/2/24. There are now only about 20 Grey-headed FFs in the camp. They are in a tall tree near the walking track, in my photo with blue sky in the background.

The camp has spread to at least 4 new trees. Also some GHFFs were in a tree close to Manners St. when I arrived. However, they soon flew out & back to the main camp. The GHFFs were much more restless than the nearby Little Red FFs. The GHFFs kept flying from tree to tree; hence it was difficult to count the no. of new trees in their camp. Noticeable in flight: their dark wings & legs protruding at the tail end. I think there are about 600, but they kept flying around, so difficult to count. Lots of fresh bat droppings on the walking track & a pungent odour!

28/1: camp viewed from about 1/2km. downriver, as I heard lots of bat calls. A dog-walker went along the River Walk, which now goes through the bat camp. This put up all the GHFFs & they made a terrific racket. Several hundred in flight.

31/1 at about 11AM, something disturbed the camp; about 1000 GHFFs in flight. 21:00 - 2 local naturalists & myself watching the bats leave their camp for the night. I was about 1/2 km. downriver from the camp & watched hundreds circling above the River & at the same time there were thousands streaming S, seen by the other 2 people who were close to the camp, near Manners St. Mainly GHFF flying.

10 Feb 2024: the LRFF & GHFFs are now roosting mixed together in the same trees. At least in the section of the camp visible from downriver. A local who works at the info centre said she’s had Fruit Bats feeding on fruit trees in her garden in Wallan. This is roughly 45km. from the camp in a straight line.

Seymour River Walk. The camp has nearly doubled in size & is spread across 11 trees. Now in some Silver Wattles on the inland side of the walking track, ie further away from the River. Estimate 800 LRFF bats.

Audio obtained using Rode Reporter app. on my iphone 14; amplified using Audacity software.

Each photo shows a different tree in the camp.

I'm worried about my LRFFs, as at other sites in NE Vic. the Grey Headed FFs have driven away the Little Reds. There is now a small camp of GHs nearby.

Update: 23 Jan. With 4 local naturalists, we went to the camp at about 20:40, to watch the bats fly out for the night. There was a steady stream of GH & LR Flying Foxes heading south.We estimate there are more than 2,000 in the camp. Mainly Little Reds. There may be another camp in the area, as the stream of bats came from 2 directions along the River.

Seymour River Walk. Next to the Little Red Flying Fox camp. These bats are larger, don’t have red skin in their wings. Estimate about 200 GHFFs. Photo taken with iphone 14.

Audio obtained using Rode Reporter app; amplified using Audacity software. A bit of river noise in the background.

Update: 23 Jan. With 4 local naturalists, we went to the camp at about 20:40, to watch the bats fly out for the night. There was a steady stream of GH & LR Flying Foxes heading south. We estimate there are more than 2,000 in the camp. Mainly Little Reds. Both spp. flying together, though the Grey-headed were restless about 20 min. before the LRFF. Maybe 300 or 400 GHFF.

In flight, we could see a short tail on this sp.

Hughes Creek canyon. Larva was crossing Hughes Creek Rd. Very large & spiny. One of our group (U3A Seymour Walk & Wonder) said she saw the larva coming from a Euc tree, frass beneath the tree & a hole at the base of the tree shown in my other photos.