April 3- Warm Day, Forgotten $600 Receipt, Bat on Camera

Yesterday, April 3, 2026, was finally a warm, mostly sunny day with temperature here in Chaumont, NY hitting 70 degrees. It has been a cold winter and a cold spring. Knowing that the night time temperature was going to be 40-50ish degrees I thought some bats may exit into the evening air from our attic. I had 2 trail cams set up. Both mounted on a ladder fairly. One close to the chimney entrance, the other one down low showing wider field of view. The lower camera with wider view captured 2 videos of bat, about 2 hours apart. The closer camera captured nothing. I have them set up again this evening. 

I came across one of my reporters notebooks from 2017 on this day too. Flipped through it quickly and stopped on a page that had a hand written receipt from someone named Francis V...?? Can't decipher the last name. It was dated October 21, 2017. It's for $600.00 and also say "1-Lot"

I have no recollection of this. No clue what it was for. 

I really can't make out the last name. Velvia, maybe? Don't know.

$600.00 receipt from Francis R V??? What did I buy?

Snow Today, Bat Guy Visit, Scanning Negatives

 

Began to snow at 4:00pm here in Chaumont, NY today.

Woke up this morning to 21 degrees outside. But it was reasonably pleasant. Eric the bat control guy came over about 9:00 and began sealing up some holes and gaps around the house. Just what he could get at without a ladder. He used some sort of clear sealant that's paintable when cured. He applied it with an electric caulking gun. I've never seen one in use before. It works great. May have to get one. 

I've had a trail cam mounted on a ladder pointed at the one way bat tube he installed by the chimney. March 9 at 8:11pm the camera picked up a bat. It was 50 degrees so I guess that was warm enough for the creature to venture outdoors. last video clip was at 8:14. No other activity before or after. Had the camera set up for a few days. 

Otherwise I have lately been scanning some of my black n white negatives from the 1980's. Preparing for a photo exhibit at Ava Smith Memorial Yellow Barn Gallery in Hammond, NY. 

`Bat approaching exclusion tube, keeps the creature from reentering the building.