Thematic Photographic: Branched

There are "must sees" when going on holiday, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or the Sydney Harbour bridge and Opera House. But what I find delights me more are the surprises - things that I never knew I would find, but just happen on unexpectedly, either in the form of advertising material when we get there, or just stumbling across it.

One of these delights was Wingham Brush. It's a small area of nature reserve in the town of Wingham, New South Wales - but what is remarkable about it is that it is home to a colony of around 100,000 grey headed flying foxes (bats). We started along the boardwalks and as we ventured further in, became aware of a quiet chittering, which became louder and louder, and suddenly spotted huge numbers of these fascinating creatures hanging in the branches overhead.



Some peope are afraid of bats, but I think they are adorable!



They were all folded up when we arrived, and gradually as dusk approached, showed their faces and became more active. As it became dark and we left the cover of the trees, great crowds of them took to the air out over the river in search of food.

For this week's theme at Thematic Photographic: branched