Bats

[Julian Robinson <>]

Many years ago, and tangentially relevant, at least to large flocks
discussion, I had the task of investigating problematical interference to
Sydney Airport air traffic control radars.  Every evening the
operators complained that they lost aircraft in a huge blob of something
right on the main approach coming in over the northern suburbs.  It
turned out to be a monster colony of flying foxes (don't remember which
one) in a secluded valley near Gordon(?). Every evening when they
decamped there were so many and spread so widely that they would cover
dimensions of a few km on the screen, blotting out the (primary) returns
of aircraft overtop.

I had the opportunity to visit the colony, it was damned impressive
although not an olfactory sensation

Julian.

At 01:16 AM 2/02/2008, John Rawsthorne wrote:
> Here in Forbes (central NSW, not really in COG territory at all) I
> regularly see one or two fruit bats each night over summer, presumably
> little red flying foxes.  However, last night I was astonished to
> see hundreds and hundreds? and hundreds, flying past at maybe 100m above
> ground level, heading northwest.  I only had a part-sky view from my
> verandah and only started taking notice after they had been going for a
> while, but estimated that I watched 6,000 fly past in a fifteen minute
> period in the last light of dusk.  I saw a few tonight doing a
> similar thing, but maybe only a couple of hundred in total.  Do
> these critters make mass migrations?
>  
> Cheers
> John Rawsthorne
>  


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