{"id":6476,"date":"2020-03-30T15:47:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T15:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/?p=6476"},"modified":"2020-03-30T15:47:31","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T15:47:31","slug":"the-night-gardeners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/30\/the-night-gardeners\/","title":{"rendered":"The Night Gardeners"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the sun finally dips below the\u00a0horizon, the small crowd that\u00a0had gathered on the hill to see\u00a0Melbourne\u2019s skyline silhouetted\u00a0against a glorious summer sunset\u00a0slowly starts to drift away.\u00a0If\u00a0only they had waited another 15\u00a0minutes they would have witnessed\u00a0something much more\u00a0spectacular, something much\u00a0more memorable and unique than\u00a0just another sunset over a big\u00a0city…<\/h3>\n\"Grey-headed<\/a>\n

Instead they would have witnessed the daily exodus of up to\u00a050,000 grey-headed flying foxes\u00a0making their way from their urban sanctuary to the suburbs of Melbourne\u00a0and beyond.\u00a0The Park Ranger responsible for\u00a0their Melbourne home at Yarra\u00a0Bend Park, zoologist Stephen\u00a0Brend says: \u201cI don\u2019t think most\u00a0people appreciate how lucky\u00a0we are to have this right on our\u00a0doorstep, just 5km from the city.\u00a0What an incredible spectacle it\u00a0is to witness flying mammals,\u00a0with wingspans of over a metre,\u00a0crossing a major city at night. I\u2019ve\u00a0worked all over the world, and\u00a0seen the animal migrations in\u00a0Africa, but this fly-out is certainly\u00a0one of my favourite wildlife experiences,\u00a0and so easily accessible to\u00a0everyone to watch\u201d.<\/p>\n

But why do these \u2018megabats\u2019 – so\u00a0named because they belong to\u00a0a family that includes the largest\u00a0bat species – fly out at night?\u00a0Where are they going? Well, like\u00a0many Melbournians, they are\u00a0heading out for dinner, but in\u00a0this case hoping to feed on the\u00a0pollen and nectar of flowering\u00a0eucalypts and native hardwoods\u00a0(such as banksias and melaleucas),\u00a0as well as native rainforest fruits.\u00a0Of course you can\u2019t always get\u00a0the meal you\u2019re looking for. Sadly\u00a0these trees and plants are not as\u00a0plentiful as they used to be, and\u00a0so the flying foxes will also turn\u00a0to eating the more \u2018exotic\u2019 introduced\u00a0fruits commonly found\u00a0in gardens. But whether eating\u00a0native or exotic food, it\u2019s when\u00a0they drop in for dinner that most\u00a0people get their first close-up\u00a0encounter with these amazing flying mammals.<\/p>\n