May Mammal Nature Study: Bats...Revisited (+Who gets the Watercolors?)

Sunset - time for mosquitoes and almost time for bats.

We have been on the lookout for a mammal subject for our May nature study. I included it in the May Newsletter suggested study because I was really hoping to see our fox friend in our yard this month.  I have been wanting to do some research on him, but he has only left some scat behind and we haven't actually seen him.

(Note: I know some of you have had trouble downloading the May Newsletter. It seems as if those of you with Firefox have trouble with just getting a blank screen. If you can switch to another browser like Internet Explorer you may be successful in downloading the Newsletter. If you still have trouble, you can email me directly for the May Newsletter.)

What would we study for our May mammal?

Well, remember a few weeks ago we had a bat visitor inside the house? My husband suggested that we learn about bats. Sigh. I don't really like bats and we already had done a quick study with OHC #49. I wasn't convinced until night before last. We were sitting outside eating dinner for the very first time this year...our normal spring/summer routine....and the mosquitoes were driving us crazy! There is an abundance of these pesky little critters right now and I commented that we needed to do something about them. My husband mentioned that we should encourage the bats because they eat lots of mosquitoes and they would help keep the population down.

Aha! A positive reason to study the bats!

We spent some time at dusk sitting outside to wait for the bats and they didn't disappoint us. They came in and swooped at head level, zooming around the yard with amazing agility. We did some reading in the HNS and online the next day and here are some of the points we gleaned about our flying mammal friends.

• Members of the family Chiroptera, meaning winged hand.
• Only real flying mammal.
• Most North American bats are insectivores, eating about 1,200 insects an hour or approximately 6,000 insects a night.
• You can attract bats in several ways- build a bat house and/or leave a light on so the insects cluster, making a dinner spot for the bats.
• We found this website informative for our local area: Northern California Bats

May Newsletter journal idea - Fill In The Circle (bat drawn by Mr. A)

I have had a few readers ask me what kind of nature journal I use to watercolor in and I will give you a link to an entry where I discuss my choice: Autumn Series #1. Well there you go...our May mammal study finished and just in time to start thinking about all our June nature study subjects. Our family is really loving the new format of the Outdoor Hour Challenge and the freedom it has given us to pursue a variety of subjects as they have come up in our daily life.

Don't forget to send in your nature study entries by 5/30/11 for the Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival. You can submit your entries HERE.


The winner of the giveaway from last week's watercolor sketch entry is Corrine from Boston! 
(I used a random number generator to pick the winner.) Corrine chose the Koi Water Colors Pocket Field Sketch Box! Congrats!

Bats in our Backyard-OHC #4

Bat watching is one of our favorite summer evening activities. We pull the deck chairs over to the edge of the deck and get comfortable facing the setting sun. As we sit watching the sunset, the bats start to fly around the backyard. They come somewhere from the back oaks and seem to have a pattern of sweeping around the tall pines and our sequoia.

They are the most amazing fliers as they swoop and streak around the sky catching their dinner.

"There are no other wings so wonderful as the bat's; the thin membrane is equipped with sensitive nerves which inform the flier of the objects in his path, so that he darts among the branches of trees at terrific speed and never touches a twig...The flight of the bat consists of darting hither and thither with incredible swiftness, and making sharp turns with no apparent effort.....He makes a collecting net of the wing membrane stretched between the hind legs and tail, doubling it up like an apron on the unfortunate insects.....thus he is always doing good service to us on summer evenings by swallowing a multitude of insects."
Handbook of Nature Study, page 242

We have observed just these behaviors in our backyard bats. I know they are ridding our area of many, many mosquitoes. We can't help but cheer them on as we watch their movements in the dusky evening.

All too fast, the moment passes and they are gone. We know they will make their return the next evening so we don't have long to wait to watch this flying wonder of the twilight hours.

I know that many of you are put off by this particular challenge but it is very much worth your while to at least do the preparation work from the Handbook of Nature Study. If you do the reading and look at the links provided, your children will have a great working knowledge of this very special flying mammal.

We have been keeping track of our summer sounds as outlined in this Outdoor Hour Challenge. Late at night when the neighborhood sounds die down, we sit outside in the dark and it is amazing how many things you can hear, many unidentifiable like a snap in the tree or a rustling in the bushes. It is an activity that the boys and I will continue to work through as the summer continues.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

OHC Summer Series #4: Bats and the Sense of Hearing

Summer Series #4
Bats and Sense of Hearing

Train Your Senses

• Sight: Observe the sky at sundown, look for the silhouettes of birds, bats, or insects in the air.
• Hearing: Observe the sounds of the night starting at sundown: bats, crickets, frogs, bark of a dog, hoot of an owl, birds, rustling in the leaves, wind, etc. Can you hear more sounds on a damp night? Can you hear more sounds at night when your sense of sight is not as keen?

Inside Preparation Work:
1. Read pages 241-245 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 59 The Bat). Although the lesson for bats states that it should not be given unless you can directly observe bats in person and most of us do not have direct access to bats, do not let this discourage you from completing this challenge. Make sure to watch the YouTube video about bats listed in the additional resources for this challenge and then proceed with the lesson suggestions. If you need additional information, use the resources at the end of this challenge.

2. Read in Discover Nature at Sundown pages 27-35 and pages 130-153 (Note: Evolutionary talk in this section). The first section will prepare you to use your sense of hearing more as you are outdoors in the evenings this summer. Plan on spending some time outdoors in the evenings to observe the sounds of the summer at sundown. The second section will give a thorough account of the bat including what kind of bats you can expect in your part of the country. Pay special attention to pages 138-140 for specific ideas for finding bats to observe in real life.

Outdoor Hour Time:
1. Things That Go Bump in the Night:
Spend 15 minutes outdoors at sundown, observing some of the sounds suggested in the book. The book suggests observing sounds on a damp night and a dry night and comparing your results. Something else to listen for is “sudden silence” where the night noises completely stop and then start up again after a period of time.

2. World of Bats:

“Although an occasional bat can be found flying about during the day, most bats take to the sky during the twilight hours. On a summer evening you can observe them in a dance of twists, spirals, and loops that is choreographed by the insects they pursue.” Discover Nature at Sundown, page 148

If you have the opportunity to observe some bats up close, make sure to use some of the suggestions from the Handbook of Nature Study and/or the Discover Nature at Sundown.

Follow-Up Activity:
Make sure to give time and the opportunity for a nature journal entry using the Summer Sounds or the Bat notebook page for provided in the ebook or a blank page in your own journal. There is also a bat coloring page included with the ebook.

Additional Resources:
Here is a general video about bats. Please preview.
YouTube.com Bat Video

More Information on the Little Brown Bat.

Life cycle of the bat notebook page.

Bats and pollination.

Please make sure to come back and post your link on Mr. Linky after completing this challenge and writing your blog entry.

If you would like all the Summer Series Challenges in one place, I have an ebook gathered for you to purchase for your convenience. Here is a link to a complete description:
Summer Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges