LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

[Ross the fiddler]

Yes, there were lots in this camp of flying foxes (in Parramatta Park, Sydney west).


K7238114 by Ross, on Flickr (E-M1 II & 12-40 F2.8 lens)

Click on this image to watch the video in Flickr of them in action.

K7238116 by Ross, on Flickr


K7238136 by Ross, on Flickr


K7238143 by Ross, on Flickr

They do have a rather cute fox like face too.


K7238499-cr by Ross, on Flickr

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go!


K7238747 by Ross, on Flickr
All taken with E-M1 II & 40-150+MC14 except the first.

Thanks for looking, but wait........there's more!

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: LOTS of Grey-Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

And yes, they fly too (particularly if disturbed during the day).


K7238918-cr by Ross, on Flickr


K7238925-cr by Ross, on Flickr


K7238977-cr by Ross, on Flickr


K7238988-cr by Ross, on Flickr

Not great focus but this image shows the under wing OK.


K7238991-cr by Ross, on Flickr


K7239044-cr by Ross, on Flickr

Unfortunately, they can get tears in their membrane wings, particularly if snagged on a barbed wire fence etc. as this one shows a little hole.


K7239051-cr by Ross, on Flickr

As I said above (in the first post) they are in Parramatta.

K7239029-adj by Ross, on Flickr

You may be able to read this better despite the bat poo streaks.


K7239029-cr by Ross, on Flickr
Taken with E-M1 II & 40-150+MC14 lens.

We had the privilege of raising an orphaned baby flying fox, bottle feeding & nappy changing etc., a few decades ago, but these days carers have to be immunised against serious viruses.

Flying foxes in Australia are known to carry two infections which can pose a serious risk to human health - Australian bat lyssavirus and Hendra virus. Human infections with these viruses are very rare and when there is no handling or direct contact with flying foxes, there is negligible public health risk.

[MJ224]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

Some amazing photos of these little hairy beasts. We only get little ones here.....:-(

Super flight photos, your kit is working well under your command...:-)

[Beagletorque]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

Wonderful set Ross, love the flying.

[TimP]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

Are these the same things as fruit bats? They get to pretty big and look very similar, seen them in the Indian Ocean areas.

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

Are these the same things as fruit bats? They get to pretty big and look very similar, seen them in the Indian Ocean areas.

Yes, they're fruit bats, & necessary for the pollination of a number of our trees as they like the nectar of eucalypts. Unfortunately, they also like fruits we grow too.

[Keith-369]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

Saw a colony in Goa, they really are amazing creatures.

Great set, TFS.

[TimP]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

Saw a colony in Goa, they really are amazing creatures.

Great set, TFS.

Seen them flying between small islands in the Maldives, looked to be the size of jackdaws, huge! Similarly hanging asleep from telephone wires in Mauritius. Never managed to successfully photograph any though.

[TimP]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

......they also like fruits we grow too.

[Olybirder]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

What an amazing sight and some great shots Ross. They are very impressive looking creatures.

On a less pleasant note the third and fourth shots remind me of a disgusting sight here where inconsiderate dog owners pick up their dogs' deposits in plastic bags, tie them up and then throw them into the nearest trees and bushes where they dangle like your bats for weeks on end. Capital punishment is too soft! Sorry for my off piste rant on you excellent thread Ross.

Ron

[Ian]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

Great photos, thanks so much for posting these. I remember them from when I lived in Indonesia as a child in the early 70s.

Ian

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

Some amazing photos of these little hairy beasts. We only get little ones here.....:-(

Super flight photos, your kit is working well under your command...:-)

Thanks Mark. I don't get to see any of the micro bats around here but I know they are around in places.

Wonderful set Ross, love the flying.

Thanks so much. I finally got to properly try C-AF with the FW update. I'm pretty pleased with how good it is now, but just my ability to get the lens pointing at them & focussing on them still needs working on, although I got some that are keepers for me.

Saw a colony in Goa, they really are amazing creatures.

Great set, TFS.

They are amazing creatures & it was great we had the opportunity to care for a baby one (3 decades ago). Before release I got her to fly to me 10m from hanging her on our clothes line & landing on my chest. She knocked the wind out of me a bit like that though. Back then the success rate wasn't good for their survival as they needed to be dehumanised sooner & so procedures have changed since. Last summer there were a number that died because of the heat. I hope this coming summer isn't a repeat of the same.

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

That’s fine, I expect they were here first so we should respect their needs and not wipe them out simply because we can.

I don't mind sharing any fruit with them. When we were living in nearer to Sydney we had a plum tree they used to enjoy. The sloppy poos on the ground was really a hose clean job afterwards though (see the evidence on the sign above). We are trying to stop the cockies from taking our citrus fruit though with netting over them, which is something commercial growers have to do to stop birds & bats from getting to them.

What an amazing sight and some great shots Ross. They are very impressive looking creatures.

On a less pleasant note the third and fourth shots remind me of a disgusting sight here where inconsiderate dog owners pick up their dogs' deposits in plastic bags, tie them up and then throw them into the nearest trees and bushes where they dangle like your bats for weeks on end. Capital punishment is too soft! Sorry for my off piste rant on you excellent thread Ross.

Ron

Thanks Ron.

Cat & dog owners can be so irresponsible at times, unfortunately.

Great photos, thanks so much for posting these. I remember them from when I lived in Indonesia as a child in the early 70s.

Ian

Thanks Ian. I had to be in Parramatta so I didn't want to waste the chance of trying out C-AF after the FW 3.1 update while in there.

[Internaut]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

Nicely done. Bats do indeed fly in the day. If they must...

[Melaka]

Re: LOTS of Grey Headed Flying Foxes (mega bats).

We used to pick them up on radar as they crossed the Malacca Strait.