The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is partnering with Bat Conservation International to work on a Bats & Bridges Survey project and they would like pilot the project with just a few Texas Master Naturalist Chapters before expanding more statewide to other areas and volunteer groups.
Your chapter has been requested as one of those Pilot Chapters for this project. I see this project as a very easy project for chapters and new volunteers. All of the tools and resources will be provided all we need is you to help with the presence/absence surveys twice a year! It seems rather simple, rather easy and that your work will contribute greatly and immediately to the welfare of bats and their roosting habitat in your area! How much better can you get than that!?!
Below is a description of the general project and please let us know of your interest in this project and your acceptance as a Pilot chapter for taking on this special project.
Bats and Bridges Survey
TxDOT has literally thousands of bridges that they maintain that also serve as roosting habitat for Texas bats. In previous years Bat Conservation International (BCI) surveyed these bridges for roosting activity. Survey information was kept in a database that TxDOT could use to plan their bridge replacement activities. Bridges with regular bat use can be replaced with a structure designed to promote bat use. Despite the value of this data, BCI does not have the staffing to regularly survey bridges for bat use.
If your Master Naturalist chapter decides to participate in this project we will provide you with a list of bridges in your area, including directions and maps, that are known to have bat roosting activity in previous years. You will be asked to visit each bridge in your list twice during the year, once in the early summer and once in the late fall. Surveys will be conducted at dusk and data will be collected on a data sheet that we provide. Each participating chapter will also be provided a MicroSoft Access database to enter data from the data sheets so that it can be easily imported into the BCI and TPWD master database. No special identification skills will be necessary; this is a presence/absence survey. (A sample of the survey sheet is attached as well).
Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to your participation.
Bob Gottfried
Wildlife Diversity Program
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
4200 Smith School Rd.
Austin, TX 78744
512-389-8744
Bob.Gottfried@tpwd.state.tx.us
Mylea Bayless
Bat Conservation International
512-327-9721 ext. 34
Michelle Haggerty
Texas Master Naturalist Program Coordinator
309 Sidney Baker South
Kerrville, TX 78028
830-896-2504
Chapter Members, use the Add a Comment at the bottom of this message, so we will know who is interested in participating.
June 8: Bat bridge survey update
Diana Foss has been in touch with the project coordinators. She has confirmed our interest, the area we normally operate in, and ensured them we have her support for a training session and the loan of some equipment, such as a GPS unit and spotlights with red covers.
For those who may not have met her, Diana is one of our Heartwood Chapter Advisors, a TPWD Urban Biologist, and the coordinator of the Waugh Drive Bridge bat project.
Bat Bridge monitoring
I would like to have more information on this project. We were already monitoring a bridge our area.
Hugh Wedgeworth
I will ask for info
Same here. I want more info, especially locations.
If we do a single count twice a year at each location? Twice a month at each location?
If it involves crawling under bridges in a solitary area after dark, I'll be looking to tag along with someone who can run fast, scream loud, or is a martial arts expert.
I'll tell them we need more info before committing. ---Ash
Ash, Heartwood TMN volunteer
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Actively build your life around your priorities.
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Bat project info coming soon
Received this email reply from the Bat-Bridges Project coordinator:
The response to this idea has been great! So overwhelming that ya'll are ahead of us! Since we got such a positive response we are trying to now quickly get all the maps and protocols finalized to take the next step.
Sorry for our delay...too many things on our plates I guess :0)
We'll try to get this done asap and send some more information out to ya'll.
Mylea Bayless
Ash, Heartwood TMN volunteer
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Actively build your life around your priorities.
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