Congress Street Bats & Austin Statesman bat hotline (Allen, Howe: appointed, food)

[bpvarian]

Hi All,
I used to call the bat hotline (Austin American-Statesman/Bat Conservation International Bat Hot Line (512) 416-5700 (category 3636)) all of the time to get updates as to when the bats were appearing.
I'm guessing the Statesman no longer has the hotline? For (at least) the last couple of weeks, the recorded message doesn't pick up.
Any ideas?

[Adamson865]

The Statesman discontinued their Inside Line service at the end of 2011.

Business Digest: FCC chairman moves to block AT&T-T-Mobile merger

[owlman]

the end of an era

[CptnRn]

This site says:

Congress Avenue Bridge Bats in Austin Texas - When and Where to See The Congress Avenue Bridge Bats

March heralds the return of the Congress Avenue bats in Austin. From March through April thousands of mostly female, pregnant Mexican free-tailed bats migrate North to give birth. And they stay through the spring, summer, and early fall.

Giving birth in June or July, the bats and pups hang around til October when they head back south. Watching the nightly forays for food is a favorite evening activity, especially in late summer.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

This site says:

Yes, but it also refers to the now-defunct American-Statesman hotline, which was a convenient resource for finding out the bats approximate launch-times, which vary though the year.

Since this time bears some relationship to sunset, it would be cool if someone could figure out what method the Batline used to predict flight times and post it here.

[CptnRn]

They usually come out right after sunset, which is currently 8:09 PM.

[kajunmaw0716]

There s a deaf guy selling bats stuff on and under bridge of bat colony in austin Hee stated he works for 5 yrs i want to confirm it if its true or was he a peddler. Pls advise

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Since this time bears some relationship to sunset, it would be cool if someone could figure out what method the Batline used to predict flight times and post it here.

It's definitely more complicated than that, depending on such things as ambient temperature and food supply. I've had friends show up according to the "half hour after sunset" rule and be disappointed that the show was already over.

Per Night Wings - The bats in Austin "They emerge at different times every night, but the hotter and drier the weather gets, the earlier they will get hungry and set out for food."

I tried finding the algorithm for a friend a couple of years ago and came up empty-handed. It sure would be cool if someone could discover it and share it.

[ryancave]

My wife & I were also dissappointed when we read about the "bat hotline" on another site, but called and it was disconnected. However, I found a different Austin/Congress Bridge "bat hotline" provided by Bat Conservation International:
512-327-9721 x16
Thought I would post here to help others who were searching for bat flight times/info. like we were.

Ryan Cave, The "Caveman"
Realtor from Allen, TX... headed to see the bats with the wife.

[kajunmaw0716]

Its pointless. Not getting help about peddlers on n under the ann richards brodge during bats nite