About the ruthless eviction of the Sydney Flying Foxes (again)

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While trying to find more information on the bat eviction, I came across a great article called The Peril and Beauty of Flying Fox Life in the Time of Extinction by Deborah Bird Rose.

The text casts light over the situation of the four Flying Fox species in Australia and is accompanied by great video footage.

I'm reposting the third segment of a documentary called Following Flying Foxes – the segment that features the now non-existent bat colony in Sydney Botanic gardens.

Video credits: Natasha Fijn & Deborah Bird Rose. Posted with permission. More information about the video is available here.

Recently Deborah has written another emotionally charged article on the topic which is definitely worth the time –
Night falls heavily in Sydney these days.

I have already lived long enough in this country to not be surprised by the atrocities done to the native and introduced animals.

It is very disappointing that the majority of people who consider themselves good are so incredibly passive and ready to accept without questioning everything that they are being fed with by authorities or commercial media.
Most of my friends' (they are my friends, because we share, more or less, similar values) reactions to the news about the dispersal were: "Oh well... This is a controversial issue..." and they repeated what they have heard on the radio or TV. Very disappointing.

In situations like this I can't chase away the feeling that Western democracies are getting weaker and weaker every year with citizens becoming numb, apathetic and brainwashed by consumerism. Isn't that sad?

As the issue is 'controversial' I'm leaving comments under this post open.

All Bats are gone!

I casually snapped this picture on 19 May 2012.

  I met a friend at the Sydney Botanic Gardens. We had coffee, a nice walk and spotted the two owls. We looked at the bats, but light was harsh, sky was bright and the only reason I took this photo was just to remember the beautiful combination - pink blossom, green leaves and orange Flying Foxes. 

I could have never imagined that this would be my last bat photo in the Gardens. I knew that the park authorities wanted to get rid of the bats. I read that finally the government had allowed the operation to begin.

I went to the gardens last Saturday after taking some photos of the Sea Shepherd ships docked at Circular Quay.

I thought there would probably be fewer bats this time.

There wasn't even one!

The Gardens felt deserted, empty and dead.
The cockatoos must have been scared by the noises too. Only the big owl was there as his fig is relatively far from where the bat colony used to be. There were ibises and cormorants in the pond.

For the nearly 10 years since I first came to Sydney I have taken the bats for granted. I've considered them to be one of the most unusual an exciting features of this city, a sign that its people can coexist with wildlife better than most others.

I've always thought that some day I'll get a better camera and lens, will find the ideal weather and light and will take amazing photos of bats in flight. This will never happen.
Here are three of the better Flying Fox photos from the past. Let's say 'Good bye' to them. I'm very sad.

Grey-headed Flying Foxes, NSW

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Grey-headed Flying Foxes XXX

This is another interesting behavioral sequence. I'd rather not comment on the specific actions as it's extremely easy to slip into tasteless remarks. It really amazes me how Attenborough always finds the right balance when he talks about sex.

Grey-headed Flying Foxes, NSW

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Flying Foxes: final appearance

Time to say 'goodbye' to the bats too.

Above are six consecutive frames of an image burst pasted into a single file.

As I was preparing these images for the bloG I thought that it was much more fun to see them downside-up. Human brain and eyes are so used to see certain things in certain order that images rotated like this look more detailed and give us a much better understanding what goes on in the branches.

Christmas is approaching, that's why I called the photo above the Three Wise Men, even though some of them are probably female foxes.

Flying Foxes, NSW

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Vertical shots

above: Pacific Gull, Tasmania

I somehow subconsciously avoid posting vertical photos on this bloG. They don't fit as nicely on the pages as the horizontal ones. Here is a random collection of such vertical photos. The only common thing about them is the format.

above: Welcome Swallow, NSW

above: Laughing Kookaburra, NSW

above: Black Swan, NSW

above: Long-billed Corella, Tasmania

above: Flying Fox, NSW

above:White-faced Heron, NSW

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Hooks

Specialized tools and adaptations that animals develop over millennia can be amazing. This time I would like to point readers' attention towards Flying Foxes feet. Direction and shape of those feet and claws serve its purpose so well. I wonder if they were evolving simultaneously with all the other elements or started to shape and change after the bat was able to fly well...

Flying Foxes, NSW

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Fox in the sky

Flying Fox, Sydney

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Nearly midnight - time for some Bats!

Flying Foxes, Sydney

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Icarus

Flying Fox, Sydney

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