Saying hello

September last year, we frequently spotted a bat above our garden. It was going around in eight figured tracks. The first loop was in our garden, then through the narrow alley and another loop over the neighborhood square.

Occasionally he is with a friend. We hear their wings flap over our heads, and once we even did see one of them catch a moth. We wondered why the bats were only flying over our garden, instead of making a wider loop that would include the gardens of our neighbors. When I read about bats on the Internet, it all became clear. Bats prefer areas with night blooming flowers, one of those being honeysuckle. That is indeed growing near the shed.
Thankfully, at least one bat has returned this year. I am so happy to go into our garden at night when dusk sets in. It is nothing more than just popping my head out to say hello to the interesting creature.
And now I am wondering what bats do during the winter, I guess they must be hibernating. It sounds very unlikely that they would migrate, like birds do. So there we have another enigma that most likely will also be solved by surfing the net.

Unlike the one thing that I am bothered with right now. During my first bat research online, I discovered that their mating seasons starts in August. They will be out there looking for a partner. These are the puzzling questions: what does a bat do to impress the opposite sex? What makes a lady bat think that her mating partner-to-be is Prince Charming? It must be more than just popping by and saying hello.

For who is interested in bats and other nocturnal or hibernating species: on Tuesday October the 28th a new series of Autumnwatch starts on BBC2. I can’t wait!

If you enjoyed this story, you might also like to read: Birds, bees and mice or Finish your plate.

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This post is also available in: Dutch