Bats in baskets

I arrived in Australia after a stopover in Fiji, and was picked up by my hosts, Jennifer and Chris Singfield. On the way from the airport, we took a drive through the wetlands area and the local town. It is a beautiful area, right on Moreton Bay. After our tour, we headed to their place where I noticed some bird perches, but no birds. I asked if they had birds and they sort of chuckled…welllll, not really birds, they said. Turns out that in addition to all the work Jen does for Bramble Bay, she also raises baby bats that have lost their mothers. This involves hand feeding and caring for these little guys. Bats, in fact, are a large part of the ecosystems here, due to the fact that they aid in pollination, and in spreading the seeds of the fruit they eat. And by the way, they are the cutest things you have ever seen, and I could watch them for hours.

So for now I’m getting situated before starting work in earnest on Jan. 5. We are heading inland for a couple of days, with the bats, of course. They travel well in their baskets.