Red Bat

This red bat came out on an exceptionally warm winter afternoon. Wing

span is about 12 inches and it flies very erratically often diving

almost to the ground which made it very challenging to track and

photograph. Red bats do not overwinter in caves but often in thick

vegetation or even leaf litter usually solitary. Enjoy. Comments

especially welcome.

NICE photograph, lovely composition, sharp image..

It's amazing to catch this photo knowing how they fly. Good shot - good capture!

Hi Barry, i can see from your comment what a rare find this is at all, and you've helped it along with a nice crop that places the bat off center and on a bit of an appealing angle within the frame. i wish there was some more evidence of sky around it though, did you eliminate that, or is that one of those very flat winter days?

Thanks for the comments. Ben, it was a bit of both. Overcast day and in getting the details optimal in the bat any trace of sky was eliminated. If I had more photoshop skills, perhaps i could selectively boost the detail on the bat. Only bare trees in the other direction so nothing to give me a nice background. I will be back to that spot once the weather warms up and he is more active and try for a better background. thanks for the comment. Barry

Barry, it took me a long time to figure out photoshop. to the extent i have, i posted what i do in a photo called "cigar Break" in a september 2005 entry and after that. have a look if you're interested. here's the link:

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4062848

Barry, I can only imagine how difficult it is to capture a bat in flight with any detail. Exposing for the bat was the right thing to do here. You're better off with a completely white sky vs. only a little detail. Thanks for not cloning out the hole in the left wing. From my limited experience, it seems most bat wings bear evidence of some mishaps. My only suggestion would be to include just a litte more space below that left wing. It's a little too close to the bottom edge to rest comfortably within the frame.

Thanks Laurie, your point is well taken re position. I will crop to allow for more space on the bottom. As for the hole, i do not touch up my animal photos since i think the flaws add to the character and individuality of the animal as they do for people.

Great capture! I've never seen one fly during the day.

This is an unusual shot especially during the day and very hard to photograph because they move at such a great speed. I have only seen the smaller bats, they come out after sunset. One memorable evening last summer, while on the lake , we witnessed feading time as several dove right to the water, scooping up floating insects would be my guess. It was a wonderful sight!

 

Oh, about the crop, I too would like to see the bat moved up in the photo a bit. I find it too close to the edge.