Anza-Borrego: In Focus lecture to the public, by Don Endicott, about native bats. Don Endicott, will begin with a primer on bats that covers their distinguishing features and physiology including their exceptional echolocation capabilities—“seeing with sound” in complete darkness. Don will discuss his research in Anza-Borrego assessing bat populations and recovery trends after a human-caused fire on January 18, 2020. This fire burned many of the native California Fan Palms in the core of Borrego Palm Canyon’s First Grove and it was suspected that resident native bats, particularly Western yellow bats, were likely killed while in their palm frond day roosts. Through the use of acoustic monitoring techniques, it is possible to identify species present and quantify bat activity levels. Don will discuss the survey methodology and over two years of data and lessons learned from the acoustic survey of bats captured by a professional grade ultrasonic bat recorder positioned in the heart of First Grove.

Approved