July 1 Field Update



		April 20, 2001
	Ibat #4 was staked out with four receiver teams. At 8:00 that bat began foraging in small wetlands near the day roost. At 8:30 it began moving south and was located near Shivertown Road. The bat made a westerly turn and was in New Paltz. The bat spent some time in the river near the 299 bridge, as well as a cemetery just to the south. For a few minutes the bat roosted-- apparently on a building in downtown. One receiver had the bat on "high attenuator" while parked in the library parking lot, suggesting the bat was only a few hundred feet away. The bat soon lost interest in the Friday night life of New Paltz and returned east to an orchard near Old Crow Road, taking only 6 minutes to do so. The bat set up camp near some outbuildings for nearly an hour before continuing to the south and east through Tucker's Corners and then onto Latitown. One receiver already on the east side of the Hudson reported picking the signal up, and the lack of bridges make crossing the river a major ordeal for us. At the time the northerly bridge at Poughkeepsie was closer, and fearing a hard easterly move into suburbia, two receivers abandoned the bat to begin setting up across the river. The last and only receiver on the west side of the river reported southeasterly bearings before the signal was lost. An extensive search on the east side of the river did not reacquire the bat. The area was searched on either side of the river as far south as I-84 until 3 AM.