Bat tracking

So you'll note, we transmittered a bat and suddenly my entries vanished. Whoops! Sincere apologies. My excuse is that once we got a transmitter on a bat, suddenly life got busy. As we expected it to. But it meant that for a long time I had next to no free time. I was either working, eating, or sleeping. And so, I shall try as best I can to remember what has been going on the past week and a half. 

On the first day tracking the northern long-eared (the 20th), we set out around noon, because we had been out late mist-netting the night before. Naturally, just to make things more fun, Wednesday was the start of the heat wave in NJ. Lovely. The first place we checked was the area where we had caught the bat, as that is the most logical place to start. No signal. Drove around on management roads on the refuge, and after an hour or so of checking areas near the river where she was caught, we stopped by the office to ask what our next plan of action should be. Dorothy, the biologist, suggested we drive along roads south of where the bat was caught, in any places near to the river. Lo and behold, we got a signal. And in less than an hour we found the bat! And guess what? Not roosting in a tree! Instead, she was using someone's barn (which this species, and a few others, will sometimes do). It was very exciting to find our first bat with relative ease. Honestly I had been expecting it to be somewhat challenging, as telemetry can be tricky, and bats are just so small, so that makes things more difficult.

First Indiana of the summer!

That night we still went out mist netting after doing a roost emergence count from the barn. Obviously due to the roost emergence count we got to the mist netting after they had already started. And apparently, we have insanely good timing. As we crossed the river, we heard them say they had caught something. Approach the processing table and low and behold! They caught an Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis). Remember how excited I was for the Northern Long-eared? Multiply that by at least like, 10 and you'll have a vague idea of how I was feeling. Indianas are a federally endangered species to begin with, and they have also been badly affected by WNS, so we were not really sure if they would still be around on the refuge. Prior to WNS showing up in NJ, they would catch sometimes 20 or 30 Indiana bats in one night. But then the last year that mist netting happened on the refuge, which was 2010, I think they caught 6 the entire summer. :-/ So, you can imagine we were quite pleased to get at least one! And I am so so SO glad that we got there in time to see it. Because although we saw some at the bat sanctuary we went to, it is not the same as seeing one in the wild. Put a transmitter on it, and the contractors have been the ones tracking that bat ever since.
 

Telemetry in action

Heading out on the 21st to track our northern long-eared, we were full of high hopes that the bat would be in the same barn. Abby and I got out of the car, turned on the receiver and literally, it was like the sad shoulder slump from Charlie Brown. There was no signal whatsoever. Both of us just kinda crumpled in on ourselves. It was both sad and funny at the same time. So from there, we decided to try a place across the street from the barn that has a bunch of land with trails (it is an environmental ed center I believe). We got a signal from the parking lot, although it was faint and there was a lot of interference from a nearby cell tower. Still, it helped to lift spirits. Wandered around the property for about an hour or so until we finally homed in on the signal, and pin-pointed the roost tree. In the end it was actually right off of one of the trails... we had just taken the long way around through the woods. And even though it was very hot, with canopy cover it wasn't quite as bad, plus the scenery was beautiful, so neither of us were complaining. :) Took about an hour to process the roost tree (label it, take pictures of it, ID the tree, describe the decay-state of the tree, get a canopy cover reading, and measure tree height, etc. That night we went back to the tree to do a roost emergence count (we need two nights of roost emergence data from each roost we find). Then we got frustrated because we never saw a bat emerge from what we had been certain was the roost tree. But we saw about 4 fly around past us and the signal for our bat did disappear, meaning she had flown away. So, we still aren't sure if we just missed her emerging from the tree (which is completely possible, since if you look away for a millisecond you could miss it) or if we had gotten the roost tree wrong. I'd like to think that somehow we just missed her emerging, cause it really really seemed like that was the roost tree. Guess we'll never know for sure.

Since the weather on the 22nd was supposed to be absolutely horrible, we got started before 8am (mind, it was already close to 80 degrees at that point. Gross). Although Abby and I did not mist net at all with them the night before, they did catch another Northern Long-eared, and so we had two bats to track this day, which is another reason why we started early. It was a good thing we did too. Went to the barn first. No signal for either bat. :( Went over to where the first bat had been the day before, and heard a faint signal in a different direction. So we did some more hiking through those trails and ended up on the edge of the river, with a very strong signal pointing on the other side of the river, which is part of the refuge. We did not have our chest waders on and so we decided to go back to the truck, drive onto our management road, and see if we could get to the spot that way, without having to forge the river. Drove around, and could not pick up a signal. While we were over by the capture site, we listened for the new northern, but got no signal. So we returned to the education center, put on our chest waders and hiked out to the spot. And there was no signal. At the exact place where it had been super loud just over an hour earlier. You can imagine our extreme distress. We knew the bat still had to be there (they do not fly during the day, unless something is seriously wrong) so we figured either something happened to the transmitter, or our receiver was messed up. So we hiked back to the car, went to the office, got the other receivers, and headed back out. Still no go. We got a slightly odd signal at times, but nothing concrete. So so frustrating. Back to the office to get new batteries, then back out to the site to see if with new batteries we could get a better signal. Of course, that was the time that we got partway out to the site and thunder and lightning started and then it started to rain. We were going to sit and wait it out til we remembered that the window of the truck was open a bit for the antenna. So we rushed back to the car, and by that point of course, it had pretty much stopped raining. Trudged back out for what we realized was our 5th time that day. Just a wee bit frustrating. But, we were still managing to laugh and have a good time and just joke about it. Finally, with new batteries, we were able to get a decent signal. Found a place where it was feasible to forge the river, and then wandered a bit through some very mucky parts til we finally got to an area where the signal was strongest. It took a really long time to pin-point which tree we thought might be the roost tree. And we weren't very confident. Mostly because it had been such a long day, and we were hot and tired, and the last time, we may have gotten the tree wrong. We knew we just needed to do our best though so we finally picked what we thought was the best option for the tree, processed it, and headed home. Ended up that we were out for 9hours. Which is extra frustrating since the bat was where we thought she was at about 9am. But due to all the equipment issues and weather issues, it just took forever. Also, please note that since it took soooo long, we didn't even get to try to find the new bat. There simply wasn't enough time. Took a brief break to eat and then we headed back out to try to do a roost emergence count. Luckily found a place to observe the tree from the opposite bank, so we didn't need to cross the river, which was a huge plus. And, we did see two bats emerge! The time that one left was around the same time that we lost the signal on our bat, so it seems that we did have the right roost tree! Definitely a good way to end a very long and slightly frustrating day. 

On the 23rd, we got another early start, just cause we had both bats to track and we simply never know how long it is going to take. We started looking for the new bat, since we didn't get a chance to search for that one the day before. No signal around where it was caught, and so then we drove down to the barn, just to check it for both bats. In the off-chance that the new one was there, or the first one had returned there.  Listened for the new bat, and it was there! So, so excited. Then, I changed the frequency over to the first bat. My hands, were literally shaking. When we heard the strong beeps (meaning our bat was there), I started jumping up and down and flailing my arms every which way. Abby kinda stood in shock, and then just sat down on the ground and actually teared up a bit. We were both insanely happy. We were done and had found both bats by 10:30am. So wonderful. Normally, those of you who know me know that I am not a big napper. But that day, when we got back to the house, after lunch I just went out in the back yard, laid out, and definitely fell asleep for a bit. It was awesome. Later in the afternoon I went out with the contractors to see them track the Indiana bat, and maybe get some tips from them. Ended up that bat stayed in the same roost from the previous night, so it was quick and easy which is great but it meant that they weren't able to really give any pointers. But that's ok. :)

That evening we went back to the barn to do an emergence count. Once again saw a bunch of bats emerging from various different parts of the barn (ours emerged from the front at places where the siding was coming off, and a bunch of others came out of a bat box on the back end of the barn). Very cool. 

Sunday, the 24th, we started our morning at the barn. Both bats were still there. Cannot begin to tell you how happy we were. We got back to the house at 8:30am and I definitely went back upstairs, laid down, and fell asleep for nearly 2 hours. Which was grand although did make for some confusion upon waking as to what day it was. lol. In the afternoon we went out to try to pick some spots to set up passive acoustic equipment since we finally got the randomized plots from the GIS person. That was fun because we got to traipse around off road and just wander through the refuge. Found some really pretty places and so sites that looked like they might work. That night we did roost emergence counts at the barn again and saw tons of bats once again. :)

So, that was a week straight of work (7 days in a row). I got Monday off which was lovely. What wasn't lovely was that Sarah and Abby could not find the first bat, at all. Drove all over the place and couldn't hear a signal. The newer one was still at the barn though, thank goodness. 

Tuesday (the 26th) I was back at work. Sarah and I heard the newer bat in the barn, but once again, no signal on the first bat. Super super frustrating. We spent a decent amount of time wandering the trails of the education center, because a few times we thought we maybe heard a signal, but it was never strong and it never lasted at all, which made us wonder if it was just weird interference. The good thing about all the wandering was that we got to see more of their land, and found more places that could be useful to listen for bats when doing telemetry. We also drove around a whole bunch to various places along the river. No signal. Anywhere. It was like she just vanished. Eventually just called it quits. Went back out that night and helped the contractors set up mist nets, and stayed with them for the first part of the night. Sadly they didn't catch anything while we were out, although we only stayed til about 10pm. 

On Wednesday, the same deal happened. Found the one bat in the barn, and the other was still mia. This time we drove ALL over and around the refuge, checking as many places as we could. Still no signal. Anywhere. Since this was the third day of her being 'missing', it was certainly getting frustrating. Luckily, we need a minimum of 5 days of tracking data, and we did have that. Only spent a few hours looking for her, then took a lunch break, and then went back out in the afternoon to scout for more passive acoustic sites. Sarah and I headed out to one that we thought wouldn't be too bad to get to. We were wrong. TONS of multiflora rose, EVERYWHERE. And just really hard to walk through. It took us 45 minutes to walk out hardly that far at all, and we weren't even seeing many good places to set up a site. We took a few points and then just turned around. Back at the office they put the points on a map and learned that we were no where near the box we needed to be in. :-( So, we still need to try to find a better way out to that box to try and get some good points that might be useable. 

That night we did not go mist netting, since we worked a decent amount that day and we were getting up early the next day to help with goose banding (that'll be a different entry :-D). So, naturally, since NONE of us were out with them, they caught something. And not just anything... they caught a Little Brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). Next to Indianas, they are one of the species we most wanted to catch, because while they are not currently endangered, their numbers have been SEVERELY affected by WNS. So, really really glad we caught one, although bummed that none of us got to see it. Hopefully we will catch more over the summer. But either way, it does mean that right now we have 4 of our 5 transmitters out on myotis species bats (because they caught another northern long-eared last night, the 28th), which is wonderful. The goal was to have 5 before July 15th, and 5 after. So as long as they catch one more bat sometime in the next week or so, we'll be golden! :) 

Also, side-note, on Thursday because they caught that little brown, Jenny stayed behind to do telemetry. She ended up finding ALL 3 BATS in the barn. That's right, you heard me correctly. All 3. As in, the bat that had been missing for 3 days, suddenly showed up again! SO HAPPY!

So, as you see, things have certainly been busy on my end. But in the best of ways. I love the job so much. Absolutely love bat work, love the refuge, and love my crew. Everything is great. :) Next time I will write about our goose banding adventure, and then today's adventures. :)