Gearing up for this summers’ field work! Last week Sharlene, Abby, Jim and I set out to conduct a pilot survey of the bats on the Vendovi Island preserve. In collaboration with the San Juan Preservation Trust, a local non-profit land trust, we carried two nights of surveys to begin documenting the bat diversity on this 217 acre island. This was an excellent opportunity to help the trust in their broader efforts to document the biodiversity on this island preserve. It was also a valuable opportunity for me to kick start my research on the San Juan Islands, which I will be starting in July on San Juan and Orcas Island.

Over our two-night survey, we captured bats 2 of the 10 species documented to occur throughout the archipelago. Surprisingly, all of the bats we caught were males. So, is Vendovi Island a bachelor pad for bats? Our surveys were too limited to say for now. I hope to return later in the season, as maternity colonies begin to form to assess whether females, and other bat species also inhabit the island. For more information about the biodiversity of Vendovi Island or the San Juan Preservation Trust, click here.

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