Bats swooping down for a drink over garden pond

Below are the stunning pictures of bats enjoying an evening drink over a garden pond near Guildford, in Surrey. The amazing shots of brown long-eared bat were taken after months of painstaking planning by wildlife photographer Kim Taylor.

After noticing the beautiful bats flying close to his garden pond at night Kim began wondering how he could capture the moment they drank from the pool.

Bats swooping down for a drink photo





Bats swooping down for a drink photo


Travelling at 20mph, with wing beats not visible to the human eye and flying mostly at night the bats are notoriously difficult to photograph.

They are also no bigger than a human hand and weigh less than half an ounce.

Kim, 76, rigged ropes across the pond which encouraged the bats to drink from a certain point. Then, using special sensors designed by himself, he managed to get the perfect shots.

These photos were taken with a digital camera using a device that listens for the ultrasonic squeaks. An infrared beam was then set to trigger flash lamps whenever a bat dipped down to scoop up a mouthful of water.

Except for the camera itself, Kim designed and built all the equipment to achieve the amazing shots. I myself as a photographer really amaze with his work. Great job Kim!





Read more at Mail Online, 17 Sept 2009

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