Yolo Basin Foundation expands Bat Talks and Tours with all-outdoor program

Bats fly over the Yolo County Causeway. — Courtesy of Yolo Basin Foundation

Local community gathers to watch bats flyout from beneath Yolo Causeway

This summer, Yolo Basin Foundation (YBF) launched a new all-outdoor pilot program of its traditional Bat Talk & Tour. This event, organized by YBF, allows attendees to view the daily dusk flyout of the Mexican free-tailed bat colony that lives under the Yolo Causeway.

The family-oriented experience runs from June to September. Alongside the flyout viewing, attendees receive a presentation on the natural history of bats and a tour of the wildlife around Yolo Causeway. The presentation also features ambassador bats, which allow people to get an up-close view of the bats before the flyout.

The Bat Talk & Tours began not long after the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area opened to the public in 1997. This year, YBF introduced a new version of the experience: The All Outdoor Bat Talk & Tour. This presentation takes place on the newly constructed Flyway Pavilion rather than an indoor venue.

Katie Pitcher, a parent from Elk Grove, found out about the event through Instagram. Her daughter, Jewel, spoke about her experience at the event.

“I think it's really cool,” Jewel said. “Being able to see the giant groups of them. It's really cool to see a whole ecosystem I didn't even know about and observe how many there are.”

Ryan Van Valkenburgh, an attendee from Yuba City, also described his experience.

“I really liked the educational presentation they did,” Van Valkenburgh said. “I didn't know much about bats before that, and I liked when she showed the bats like on the camera.”

The presentation for the Bat Talk & Tour featured three distinct bat species native to California: the big brown bat, the Mexican free-tailed bat and the pallid bat. The presentation focused on the genealogy of bats, misconceptions about the winged mammals and their use of echolocation, paired with an educational song.

YBF Program Coordinator Corky Quirk, the primary speaker at the Bat Talk & Tour, spoke on the importance of the Bat Talks to the community.

“There's a lot of fear and misunderstanding about bats,” Quirk said. “[The Bat Talks] gives us an opportunity to highlight animals that are so misunderstood, and you know, help people just understand what they are, where they live and what they're doing.”

In conjunction with running the Bat Talks, Quirk also founded Northern California Bats (NorCal Bats), an organization focused on aiding bats and educating people about the animals. Quirk spoke on how the Bat Talks are directly linked to the mission of NorCal Bats.

“We also have an exhibiting permit, and it's for non-releasable animals, so bats that can't live in the wild anymore. Almost always that's due to wing injury that prevents them from flying well enough to hunt,” Quirk said. “And so the exhibiting bats, which I like to call ambassadors, are on the NorCal Bats permit, and so one of the NorCal Bats handling volunteers is present at any of the Yolo Basin shows.”

After the outdoor presentation, attendees are given walkie-talkies and get in their cars to follow the YBF van on gravel roads. The “auto-tour” is given throughout the wetlands surrounding the Yolo Causeway, with Quirk narrating through the walkie-talkies as visitors drive past wildlife.

The auto-tour comes to an end in a parking lot near Yolo Causeway where Quirk has a microphone, and YBF volunteers have set up a table to sell merchandise. Attendees stand or set up lawn chairs to watch the dusk flyout of the colony with thousands of bats pouring out from beneath Yolo Causeway.

Quirk spoke about her favorite parts of the Bat Talks, highlighting her satisfaction with helping people appreciate bats.

“A lot of times, the people are open to nature, but not necessarily knowing a lot about bats,” Quirk said. “And so, when they say, ‘Now I understand,’ or ‘Now I think they're really important, or interesting, or you know, intriguing’ [...] Then I feel like I've done my job.”

All Bat Talks & Tours are sold out for this summer. A waitlist is available on the YBF website.

Written By: Cole Taylor — city@theaggie.org