Nectar Bats in Ajo

Paul and Linda, fellow snowbirds and friends of mine in Ajo, own a home that has a remarkable variety of desert plants in the yard. There are several species of agave and some of these are blooming now. Nectar bats have appeared in good numbers, I’ve spent a couple of nights there photographing them. The laser trigger won’t work in this setup, so I just prefocus on a point and hope a bat comes to it.

All of the nectar bats appear to be one species, the Lesser Long-nosed Bat. This one had just finished feeding and is dropping off the flower.

While feeding on nectar, they get a lot of pollen on their fur. This species is an important pollinator of desert cacti and other plants.

This image isn’t very sharp but one can see the yellow pollen on the bat.

I find it very difficult to get a good angle on the bats and I don’t get many sharp ones, so I can’t be too picky about which photos to keep. I shot over 200 images and only a dozen or so are worth keeping.

Another bat leaving the flower, they don’t stay on the flowers very long.

I think this is my favorite one so far. As always, right click on the image and open in a new tab or window for a larger view.

5 replies on “Nectar Bats in Ajo”

These are terrific, Doug! Looks like we may have to up our agave crop to keep the bats happy.

I always enjoy your bat photos. Very interesting!

Wonderful Photos Doug, they really show off these interesting animals. I think you exaggerate a bit when you say they aren’t on the flowers long, their “flower stop” is more of a hesitation on their flight path, which makes these photos all the more remarkable. Good work!

Doug, these are gorgeous!

Great shots! You’ve made a very loveable creature out of one that many folks, for various reasons, tend to fear. Thank you!

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