Please join us for an evening adventure to listen and look for bats as we walk along one of our most beautiful preserves, Eagle Peak Ranch! This is a 1.5 hour drive from San Diego to beautiful oak woodlands. We will delve into our nighttime world to eavesdrop on eerie echolocation calls using bioacoustics and attract moths to our UV lighting station to observe them up close.
All ages are welcome to join us for this hair-raising event. Sign up early as space is limited, and our Nature Nights events fill up quickly!
Please bring a flashlight or headlamp, water, a camp chair for the later mothing portion, and wear long pants and close-toed shoes. Bug repellant recommended.
This event will take place at Eagle Peak Ranch, a beautiful property secluded near Julian, that includes oak woodlands and multiple ponds. You are welcome to arrive an hour early (6 PM) to enjoy your picnic dinner at one of the beautiful view points or picnic tables.
Check out this news article by KPBS: Bat Season has begun in San Diego, where Natalie Borchardt and Don Endicott talk about the importance of bats in San Diego County.
About our Presenters:
Natalie Borchardt, our SDRPF Senior Manager for Land and Water Conservation, has been studying bats for several years and is eager to share her knowledge about our wonderful night creatures and the fascinating world we share with them.
Judie Lincer, M.S. Ed. is a Naturalist Educator with San Diego Bird Alliance. She has over 30 years of teaching experience and guides hikes, educating people about ecosystems, adaptations, and ethnobotany (the study of a region’s plants and their uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture), and leads fascinating and engaging Bat presentations! She is an enthusiastic speaker who inspires others to develop a love and appreciation of nature. Judie is on the Board of Directors of the SDRPF and was the longtime Workshop and Tour Director for the California Native Plant Society-San Diego.
Hector Valtierra is an avid moth enthusiast, and will be setting up a mothing station for us. When he isn't out looking for moths and other insects, Hector works as a microbiology and general biology professor at San Diego community colleges. He is also an avid iNaturalist user and wildlife photographer.
