Yesterday was one of the record days in terms of the number of times the weather changed, and how much it took to an extreme. I had a nice early morning bike ride before work, then, it was a tornado warning during the day. Fortunately, it didn’t touch Rogers Park, but in the office, we were instructed to shelter in place, and it continued for 45 minutes. The rain was pouring, and it was very windy, and it was hard to believe it will get better any time soon.
Then, suddenly, things started to clear up, and by 4 PM, there were no traces of it. I was hoping I could go to the beach right after I get home, but for some reason, the beach alert ws not removed. The red flag was up, and a lifeguard was marching around the pier. I was extremely disappointed, but decided to repeat the attempt at 7 PM. The problem was that I also wanted to attend the Bat Monitoring event, which was scheduled for 7:30, so I had very little time. Still, I decided that something is better than mothing, and I didn’t regret it! Just half on hour was plenty to be thankful to the lake and the happy fact that I live so close to it!
The Bat Monitoring was another super-interesting thing. The presentation took place at the Loyola fieldhouse. Liza Lehrer, Assistant Director of the Urban Wildlife Institute at Lincoln Park Zoo, gave an overview of the Urban Wildlife Institute’s bat research program and its key findings. I learned a lot! For start, I didn’t know we have bats right here, in Chicago! I didn’t know that they migrate, like birds, and that some of them hybernate in winter! And I didn’t know they are closer to humans than rodents.
The most exiting part was a live demo! It turned out, that there is a special equipment one can use to detect and record the bats that are flying around us! Also, there is a program which can autoamtically decode the sounds and identify the species, and also record the place were recording was made. The Lincoln Park Zoo people had two of these sets, and we had an opportunity to see them in action! It was surreal – I never ever thought that there are bats, and so many, right there, by the beach, where I walk almost every day.
If it wouldn’t be so late, I would stay longer!
Hettie's Reflections 