and clinging to the cedar siding is a solitary bat, hanging head down next to my secret house key. It clearly prefers solitude as opposed to occupying the nearby bat house with more than 200 residents.
Little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus).
Here’s the bottom of the two-chambered bat house this afternoon with 40+ individuals peeking out in this image. It’s crowded in there!
Bats need friends! If you’d like to build and successfully locate a bat house the classic guide was published in 1994 (now out-of-print) and co-authored by my late wife: Bat House Builder’s Handbook.