Did you know our Capitol (Olympia) is home to bats? Its true! I’ve seen them feeding at Capitol Lake on several evening paddling trips. Sometime late in the evening they return to their Belfry - an old abandoned railroad bridge in Woodard Bay once used for logging operations. So my mission was to slip into Woodard Bay at dusk and stake out the bridge in hopes the bats would swoop in to roost. For some reason I found it tough to find a paddling mate willing to wait past 11pm for bats? Solo it is.

If you haven’t seen Woodard Bay your missing out on a pristine natural area, now managed by the Department of Natural Resources as a Natural Resource Conservation Area. They have a sound management plan for this area, and its full of a lot of info here. For once we should thank the logging industry “Warehauser” for keeping this area virtually untouched. A great deal of board feet of lumber was shipped out of here as late as the 90’s. If you do plan to paddle here its best to go in small groups, less than five, and obey the rules and only launch between April 15^th and labor Day, to protect the nesting and breeding season. Oh and do yourself a favor and put in at a high tide unless you enjoy mud wrestling. It’s a great day paddle and gives one easy access to Henderson Inlet, and home to a large seal population.

At 9pm I slipped my Icekap into the bay. An extreme high tide will allow me to stay out as long as I can stay awake, and still not be mud bound. Herons (one of WA largest rookery is here) and raptors shared the evening skies, as I made my way slowly to the bridge. A delightful trail also leaves the same parking lot, and I heard several voices thru the old growth carry across the saltwater. I eagerly approached the bridge, but alas the bats we not home, probably still feeding on Capitol Lake or asleep and oblivious to my presence. I’ll wait em out, and check out Henderson Inlet. A quick note of my illuminated compass bearing/back bearing gave me the confidence to paddle into open water in almost pitch darkness. I didn’t know it at the time but I lost track of my camera dry bag after taking a few photos of the bridge, and some video footage. One of the pitfalls of night paddling, loosing gear. Barking Seals hauled out on old logging platforms echoed across the Inlet, gave the evening an eerie feeling. The logging booms are heavily used during the July thru October pup birthing season.

While waiting for the bats to return I pulled out portions of the DNR management plan to read under headlamp. Did you know between 650 and 3000 bats reside here? Two species: Myotis yumanensis and Eptesicus fuscus, and possibly a third species is present. If you look closely, portions of the bridge have tin sheeting laid over the beams, and it’s this manmade habitat that appeals to the bats. Apparently pregnant bats need to maintain a high body temperature, and the tin roofing provides optimal heat absorption and transfer. Also the derelict bridge provides ample food of insects living within the rotting wood. A great Seattle Times article on bats will give you more info, and a Capitol lake Bat web page found here has photos and even bat radar images and radio tagging info and data. Also interestingly, over 21 registered archeology sites have been found in Woodard Bay, making it an important historical Native American site. Other important species such as Purple Martins, Owls, Marbled Murrelets, Woodpeckers, Kingfishers, Swallows, Hummingbirds, Vaux’s Swift, Grebes, Loons, and many Waterfowl call Woodard Bay home. At 11pm I paddled up to the old bridge again, and was immediately buzzed by many small birds - NO WAIT, these are little BATS! probably feeding on insects above the water. I was initially fooled by how graceful and fast they flew mistaking them for small birds! I back paddled to avoid being in the flight path. How cool is this!! An incredible evening alone in the Bay with bats overhead, and at this time of the night, many birds were also swooping into the cove to roost. The bats seem to travel between the local lakes, and have roosts along established radio tagged routes. Black Lake, Pattison Lake, a farmhouse on Evergreen State Grounds, and portions of Puget sound. Distances of up to 31km loops in a night to multiple lakes have been identified. A great Evergreen college Bat Info PDF can be viewed here. I’ll return to see the bats again someday but for now sleep is on my agenda. Food for thought: clean green wind farms might be potentially killing bats info here.