Early October – Kayaking, Bat Yak Dinner – Austin, TX

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Congress Ave bridge

We are on our way to the 3^rd annual Bat Yak Dinner.  This is an afternoon adventure based on seeing small Mexican free-tailed bats taking off from their Congress Avenue Bridge hangout at sunset.

Traffic builds as we approach Austin.  We closely follow one of our fellow kayakers; we are nervous about finding where everyone is meeting for the picnic.  The fortunate thing is our kayaking buddies are easy to spot – kayaks hanging out of the backs of trucks or on trailers are a helpful clue.

The parking area has just enough spots for all of us to park.  We grab our food and head off to an open picnic table.  Some of us are specially dressed for the occasion.  My added mustache is quickly discarded – it gets in the way of eating.  We dine on wings, salmon, California rolls, cheeses, salads, brownies, cookies and adult beverages.  The one thing we hadn’t planned on is the multitude of flies.  Once the food is broken out they are on it.  We have early practice using our paddling strokes swatting at flies.  We quickly eat so the flies can move on to other picnickers.

We reconvene under the I-35 bridge to assemble, pump-up then deploy our kayaks.  Allison brought her stand-up paddleboard.  Many others have the same idea renting or bringing their own kayaks, paddleboards or other watercraft.

Paddling Lady Bird Lake we see greater Austin rising from the lakeshore.  Glass high-rises and office buildings abound.  Soon we come to the Congress Ave Bridge.  Water craft of all types congregate around the base of the bridge anticipating sunset.  Howie, one of our fellow kayakers, checks with one of the tour operators for their wisdom regarding bat activity.  We paddle to the appropriate spot and watch, and watch….  and watch.  Nicida and I pass the time shooting building/reflection images with our phones.  The calm lake provides spectacular images.  

The sun disappears - still no bats.  The skies get darker, tour boats move to the bottom of the bridge and illuminate the area with red lamps.  Little activity is detected.  We turn our attention to the opposite side of the bridge hearing faint squeaks coming from that direction.  We can see a handful of small bats against the last bit of bright sky.  We also see a small grayish cloud close to the horizon.  Some of us think the cloud is a congregation of bats, others are not so sure.

As the evening progresses and gets darker the tour boats continue illuminating the underside of the bridge.  We see activity, motion mainly; the bats are too small to really discern.  No bat photos tonight.

On our return my hat blows off my head, not because I’m paddling so fast; a gust of wind came along and did the deed.  Allison following close behind us rescued my hat, thank you Allison.

We pack up in the light of flashlights and vehicle headlights.  A mad dash for the highway ensues for the trip home.

It was a good day.

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark