Pond at Lovettsville Community Park.

On June 8 the Lovettsville Community Park held an evening bat program in cooperation with Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.  The festivities started at 8:00 pm and were held near the pond complete with beautiful brand new wooden benches made by the park staff.  Dr. Bruce Kimmel and Nana Chronger kicked off the evening by playing a true/false bat trivia game.  Participants were surprised that bats are not blind, and Virginia bats are insectivores, not pollinators.  Bats in the Southwest United States do provide a pollinator function, but we only have insectivores in Virginia.

After the game we headed out to observe bats.  The first bats emerged at about 8:45 pm, 10 to 15 minutes after sunset.  Bruce and Nana both had mobile ultrasonic recording devices that can identify bats by their ultrasonic calls.  The first bats to emerge were Evening and Eastern Red bats that flew close over the pond water.  Around 9:00 pm the group observed more bats flying higher near the treetops over the grass amphitheater of the park.  These bats were identified as Big Brown, Silver Haired and potentially Brazilian Free-tailed bats.  In total we observed about 10 to 15 bats representing four to five species.

The evening ended with a fire for roasting marshmallows.  It was an enjoyable evening for everyone.

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