Trying to photograph birds will drive any sane person mad, but photographing bats is pure madness. Every evening at dusk a stream of bats flies out of a small opening above our drainpipe. The bats fly in large circles around the yard and even circle through our balcony area, driving our cat wild. Last night I was mad enough to try to capture one, so I stood on the balcony for some time, shooting randomly into the dark in the hopes that one of these swift creatures would happen to be flying across my viewfinder. And I caught some! They are blurry, but they are mine.

I suppose that I am so used to seeing the sleek bodies of birds in my viewfinder that I was a little shocked when I saw the images I captured. They truly are winged mice flying through the night! While standing so close to them as they flew out I noticed that they made swishing sounds, as if their wings were made of satin.

Unfortunately I don’t know anything about bat identification, so I can’t tell you what species these are. If anyone has any hints, please let me know.