The bat colony that resides in the Congress Street Bridge downtown Austin emerge nightly. The colony consists of over 1.5 million Freetail Bats; mpst are mothers and their newly born pups. By the end of the night the colony will have eaten 10,000-30,000 pounds of bugs (yes in a single night!) and while I was in Austin I was never once bothered by a bug let alone a mosquito. The colony can be seen Mid April through mid September, unless it is extremely warm and dry in March, which it was lucky for me.

Huge crowds of people come to see this every night. The bridge is covered, as is underneath and the water with people trying to see the bats emerge. We got there 2 hours early to get good parking and seats. The “Pre-Show” consisted of entertainers working for a tip and vendors walking around selling glow things to keep you occupied while you waited – which our entertainer was very good.

Right before dusk you begin to hear the bats stir, then slowly their sound grows into a buzz and they sound like power lines buzzing. Then they begin to come and come and more and more. They are hard to see against the dark backdrop but you can see them and when flashes ficker you can really see them!