The bats!!! - Austin

I've heard about the Congress Ave. bridge bats in Austin, but this was the first time we were able to see them in person. The Radisson hotel is right there on the river with a great view of the bridge, we got a patio table at the TGIFridays and ordered some finger food and waited. That's the hard part about the bats - they are on their own schedule. We found out from the restaurant manager that the bats started to fly out at about 8:15pm the night before, so we figured they would come out around the same.


Some information from the Austin City Guide while we wait for the bats -

About Congress Bridge Bats
The Congress Avenue Bridge spans Town Lake in downtown Austin and is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. The colony is estimated at 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats. Each night from mid-March to November, the bats emerge from under the bridge at dusk to blanket the sky as they head out to forage for food. This event has become one of the most spectacular and unusual tourist attractions in Texas. The most spectacular bat flights are during hot, dry August nights, when multiple columns of bats emerge. There are several points from which to view the event, and an information kiosk is located on the north bank of the river, just east of the bridge.


Then sure enough, the bats slowly started to emerge and my niece and I walked onto the bridge for a better view -

and they kept coming and coming and coming. The whole event takes about 20 or more minutes. They sort of trickle out in sections. They're small and fast and hard to photograph with the dim light of dusk - but I did get one pretty cool shot looking down on them from the bridge -

I was told that the best time of year to view the bats is June and July when all the baby bats are emerging so the colony is at it's largest.


If you are ever in Austin sometime between mid-March and November, hang out on the Congress Ave. bridge just before dusk and enjoy the bat show!