Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge

Spanning Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, the structure shelters approximately 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats roosting underneath. Spectators line up along the bridge top or designated viewing spots below as sunset approaches. The emergence is notoriously unpredictable: on any given evening, the colony might trickle out by the dozens or surge by the thousands, creating a lively atmosphere as the crowd waits.