I bet you didn’t know that October is Bat Appreciation Month. Or maybe you did. Who knows? There always seems to be something to appreciate…I mean a few weeks ago we were celebrating the octopus. Anyway, at the south end of the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas is a large wind vane in the shape of a flying bat. Well, it’s actually a rotating metal sculpture created by the artist Dale Whistler in 1998. It’s called Nightwing. If you’re wondering why it exists in the first place, well Austin has the world’s largest bat colony, specifically 1.5 million of the Mexican free-tailed bat (which is also the official state bat of Texas). They summer under the bridge (and spend their winters in Mexico). The best time to see the bats is supposedly July/August but each year they attract 100,000 tourists who come to watch them. So if you’re into bats, it sounds like this bridge is the place for you.
Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas
