Watch 1.5M Bats Rise Over Austin
A free, seasonal dusk spectacle over Lady Bird Lake, biggest in late summer and gone once the weather turns cold. Here is how the emergence works and where to stand near the bridge.
Where it happens
The nightly emergence
From late spring through early fall, crowds gather near the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge at dusk to watch Mexican free-tailed bats pour into the sky over Lady Bird Lake. It is one of Austin's most distinctive urban experiences, and it is deeply seasonal. The colony builds to roughly 1.5 million bats by late summer after migrating up from central Mexico. Most evenings the main flight starts about five minutes after sunset and can take up to 45 minutes to finish, with emergence landing somewhere between 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. depending on the light. Arrive early for a spot on the bridge sidewalk or the Statesman lawn on the south bank, and face east, because the bats stream that way. Viewing is free and weather dependent, so aim for a warm, clear evening.
