Grey-Headed Flying Fox Summer Roost (Royal Botanic Garden Sydney) — Yarra Bend Park

About this spectacle

At Yarra Bend Park in Melbourne's inner north, one of Australia's largest urban colonies of grey-headed flying foxes camps in the riverside eucalyptus canopy. Visitors stand beneath thousands of large fruit bats hanging, jostling, and calling overhead — a surprisingly loud, pungent, and visually overwhelming spectacle. At dusk the bats launch in streaming ribbons across the darkening sky, wheeling over the Yarra River in waves that can last well over an hour. The leathery sound of massed wings, the musky smell of the colony, and the sheer density of animals overhead make this an unexpectedly intense urban wildlife encounter. During summer the colony swells dramatically with young pups clinging to their mothers. The roost is visible from established walking paths along the riverbank, making it one of the most accessible large bat colonies in the world.

When to go

Jan — Dec, peak Nov — Mar

Getting there

Nearest airport: MEL. Nearest city: Melbourne.

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