July 11, 2014: Eight young men of Austin Youth River Watch began their retreat with basketball and burgers at the EcoHouse. Then we hiked from the Mexican American Cultural Center upstream to the Congress Avenue Bridge. Just after sunset, the bats started streaming out from under the bridge. After the bat bridge, we continued the adventure with a night swim at Barton Springs. When we got back to the EcoHouse, we got our flashlights and headed out into the night for a hike through the Riparian Forest. We stopped by the wetlands along the river to listen to the chorus of frogs. From there we wandered through the forest up to “The Big Tree” and near the edge of the big hollow below it. We called for barred owls and two responded. Then we thought we would try the fields for any cool wildlife. The farmer had the rows of hay raked in their curing piles so we jumped over them across the field on the way back to the EcoHouse. What an adventurous day!
