Comment from Sange
I watched a discovery channel special of in flight birds and they did a section of bats which was amazing. This is a fine shot of the one on the right Mary. You handled white balance well with his black color and you have great eye clarity with a bonus catch light.
Not an easy shot to take, but you did a fine job.

 Comment Written 15-Oct-2016

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reply by the author on 15-Oct-2016

Thanks again Sange :) Mary

Comment from PeglegDeb
Oh good for you Mary!! Yes....much easier to see in this one.

Excellent focus....and color. The little guys are really well detailed here. Love the sparkle in his eye and seeing how they all just hang there by their toes. Good for you for posting one w/o the distracting branch. I can see how it would be a challenge to get these guys clearly WITHOUT any branches blocking them.

Deborah

 Comment Written 26-Sep-2016

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reply by the author on 26-Sep-2016

Thanks Deborah appreciate your encouraging words :) Mary

reply by PeglegDeb on 27-Sep-2016

So welcome Mary. Was happy you had another one of these guys.

Comment from Susan F. M. T.
Mary,
A beautiful picture of the Fruit bats hanging upside down from the branches f the Fig Tree with a clear blue sky in the background. Until you see their twlinking eyes & ears you might at first glance be forgiven for thinking they looked like black bags caught in the branches. They must be facsinating to watch on the roost & the flying off or coming back. Beautiful composition, framing & lighting taken with superb camera techniques & razor sharp focus.
Susan

 Comment Written 26-Sep-2016

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reply by the author on 26-Sep-2016

Thanks Susan, they are fascinating as they open and close their wings to maintain the right temperature then squabble and fly off - couldn't get any flying unfortunately. We have a group here in Adelaide but they are out of my lens length for any good photos. :) Mary

Comment from michiganmike
A very nice shot. The colors are great and the catchlight in the bat's eye is very nice. Good detail in the black fur and attractive cropping.

 Comment Written 26-Sep-2016

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reply by the author on 26-Sep-2016

Thanks Mike, appreciate your feedback. :) Mary

Comment from memephotos
The one Australian animal I don't like for a number of reasons ...
But may I say your presentation of them is very good just as we see them in nature .
The hanging upside down.
& how they wrap their wings around like a shroud .
The hairy front of body .
The small bones in the wings that gives definition .
The colours black & reddish brown bits . The eyes ears and nose of one is very clear .I can hear their piercing scream ......!
& fear the deadly virus they carry .
Focus,light,colour,action.all good frame .nice work .
But tell me how many 100s where in the trees ??? I have several photos I took in cowra & near burke 40years ago & there where 1000s & about 8yrs ago there where still 1000s . Thanks

 Comment Written 26-Sep-2016

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reply by the author on 26-Sep-2016

Thanks very much. Sounds like you traveled a fair bit and saw more than some Australian's ever see. There were probably over a 1000 in the area and we saw them in several other places but these were the only ones low enough to get some reasonable photos. In Cairns they were taking off for the evening as we walked back to the car but we had been to a very long lunch so don't think any photos would have been successful LOL

reply by memephotos on 27-Sep-2016

Oh I grew up taking camping trips with my mum and dad ?Great memories .I remember camped one night near orchard farm trees & fruit for miles ,Than all night the screaming call of the bats ,hanging in trees over our old tents I was maybe 8 .. Next day there was no fruit left in the orchards ?

So nice work .. there can be 1000 but hard to get a photo of them .

reply by the author on 27-Sep-2016

Oh just looked at your profile and realize you are in Australia for some reason I thought you were from USA guess I should have checked before but understand totally about the noise they make :) Mary

reply by memephotos on 27-Sep-2016

Thats ok ,,, & your welcome

Comment from dalebraatz
what a great detailed image, very nice colors and details even eye contact. this one is better but shooting a lot in nature some times you have the twigs and branches. very pleasing to look at. Thank you for sharing. dale,

 Comment Written 26-Sep-2016

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reply by the author on 26-Sep-2016

Thanks Dale, yes nature can be frustrating at times when the animals aren't in a good place for us to photograph but also so amazing to watch the antics. These are very noisy and very smelly :)

Comment from rhondaloner
Beautiful clear focus, lovely saturated colors and perfect framing. This is a really beautiful capture! Thank you for sharing.

 Comment Written 26-Sep-2016

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reply by the author on 26-Sep-2016

Thanks so much Rhonda I appreciate your positive feedback. :) Mary

Comment from nature rules
Wow!! What a delightful capture to study! And pertinent to the upcoming season...bats, and witches and pumpkins and little ghouls in our neck of the woods.

Your colors are outstanding and you have used framing to turn a somewhat difficult composition into a very interesting one! Excellent work!! Thank you for sharing!

 Comment Written 26-Sep-2016

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reply by the author on 26-Sep-2016

Thanks so much, didn't think of Halloween as we don't really celebrate it in Australia, could have saved it for a competition LOL

Comment from Dick Lee Shia
Looks better than the previous one.
A rare find!
Great story telling factor.
Impressive capture!
An interesting initial impact.
Selective focusing.
Thanks for sharing...

 Comment Written 26-Sep-2016

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reply by the author on 26-Sep-2016

Thanks Dick, appreciate your feedback :) Mary