Bat colony (Miniopterus schreibersii)

Posted by Alexandre Vaz on Tue Nov 04, 2003 4:02 pm

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This is in the biggest bat colony in my country. They can gather about 2000 per square meter (about 10 square feet).
I was working side by side with the Portuguese Bat research team. They are very sensitive creatures that demand all precautions.

I'm not sure If I should have posted this on the Elements of Humankind, considering the band?

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by Lillian Roberts on Tue Nov 04, 2003 4:21 pm

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Alexandre Vaz wrote:They are very sensitive creatures that demand all precautions.

I'm not sure If I should have posted this on the Elements of Humankind, considering the band?

Precautions against what? Rabies? An umbrella? Hurting their eyes with strobe? ALL precautions???

Cool shot, I would not have known that was a band had you not said so. Amazingly even lightint -- how far away were you? Did you use flaash or did they have other lights set up?

Lillian Roberts
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by Paul Skoczylas on Tue Nov 04, 2003 5:28 pm

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I really like the repeating patterns in this. The band actually breaks that up a bit and helps the image--though I think it would better at a power point and less centred.

-Paul

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by RichardMittleman/Gon2Foto on Tue Nov 04, 2003 6:25 pm

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Such mild responses so far!
This image is unique, informative, intriguing.

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by Carol Clarke on Tue Nov 04, 2003 6:37 pm

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Certainly a unique image Alexandre! It reminds me of a honeycomb and a myriad worker bees all buzzing around.

Very nice!

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by AlexC on Tue Nov 04, 2003 7:40 pm

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Tons of Bat Guano, Batman!!!!
Keeping warm is a major problem for bats, in this way they keep each other toasty warm!!! Very nice image!!! Congrats!!

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by Alexandre Vaz on Wed Nov 05, 2003 5:15 am

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Amazingly even lightint -- how far away were you? Did you use flaash or did they have other lights set up?

I think I was in the 50mm range at about 1 meter (3.2 feet) from them.
I don't remember if in this one I was using a small Micro Apollo soft box, but I'm sure on this one the light comes only from one single flash unit.
In this cave, that is not very big, there were about 20 000 from this species.

Thanks for your comments.

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by E.J. Peiker on Wed Nov 05, 2003 10:04 am

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Wow, this is incredible. The texture here also lends itself to B&W.

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by Matt Cox on Wed Nov 05, 2003 3:21 pm

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This is a great shot, Alexandre. The pattern these bats make is fascinating and works great as a photograph, and I think whatever lighting technique you used worked very well here. I must admit that if you didn't tell me these were bats, I'd have no clue what I'm looking at.

Matt Cox

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by Karen S on Wed Nov 05, 2003 5:27 pm

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Cool pattern .... I am sure to have a scary dream about this one

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by Rich S on Wed Nov 05, 2003 6:26 pm

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Patterns really make this shot for me. It takes a while to discern the various parts - what's a head vs. arms etc. I'm curious about two things. Precautions against what? Human activities altering their behavior or falling bat guano? What I'm really curious about though is exactly what part of the bat has been banded? From the photo I don't have a clue!

Rich

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by Laura Stiefel on Wed Nov 05, 2003 7:20 pm

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I've come back to this time and time again. I find the patterns to be extremely intriguing. I think this is a fantastic image.

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by Bill Keown on Wed Nov 05, 2003 9:22 pm

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Super image. The texture and pattern in this is great! A nice capture.

Bill Keown

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by Alexandre Vaz on Thu Nov 06, 2003 5:35 am

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Precautions against what? Human activities altering their behavior or falling bat guano? What I'm really curious about though is exactly what part of the bat has been banded? From the photo I don't have a clue!

Precautions not to disturb to much the bats during hibernation or during reproduction. Not making them leave the cave during the day nor to force them to consume to much energy in periods were food is not available.
Usually they tolerate some flashes, but if they are to, many they will star flying. The trick is to move to other group before this happens.
During warmer days, they are very active, and therefore it's not good for photography.

Concerning the band, bat anatomy isn't easy for me, but the band is in the hand (wing). The small finger you can see in the banded bat it´s the thumb.

Thanks for asking.

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by NDCheryl on Sat Nov 08, 2003 11:24 pm