An Indiana Bat? In January?

Well, I went down to Cliff Cave County Park in St. Louis County, Missouri, on a balmy 64 degree day in January.  (The usual comments about climate change will be omitted, because you've heard them all before.)  Regardless of the source of the warm weather, it was amazing to get outside.

And... That's what everyone in Missouri thought, too!  I've rarely seen so many people in one park since the days of Pokemon Go.  As a result, I made strides to avoid photographing people and I think, from the following photos, that I did a good job.

Cliff Cave County Park is built into the side of the bluffs of the Mississippi River, and also contains some of the floodplain, too.  The limestone bluffs are quite impressive:

I had read online that Cave Salamanders could be found here, and, desiring to find this would-be-lifer as my first herp of the year, I began to check the stream flowing from Cliff Cave, far in the back:

Sadly, the creek was a bit polluted, and no amphibians of any species were evident.  Cliff Cave is gated to protect the bats that roost inside, including the Federally Endangered Indiana Bat.

My dad, who was with me, developed a headache, and we walked back down to the car.  I spotted something flitting about above the road, and thought it was a very out-of-place Swallow.  After watching it for a bit more, I saw it for what it really was.  It was a BAT!

Based on the color and size, it's possibly an Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis).  On the other hand, bats are very difficult to ID.  Still, there's nothing that's stood out to me that rules out this being an Indiana Bat.  If someone wants to point out some key ID feature, that would be great.  I got a better look at this bat than shown in these pictures, and from what I saw it looked like an Indiana Bat.

If this IS an Indiana Bat, I got very lucky, and this bat got very unlucky.  Indiana Bats are a Federally Endangered species, making this essentially the rarest animal I've ever seen.  On the other hand, the fact that this bat is out in January, wasting energy hunting non-existent bugs, and trying to do so in the middle of the day, is not a good sign for its health!

After Dad went back,  I decided to continue hiking.  I made my way to the top of a nearby bluff, where I discovered some unusual lichens:

This area was great for lichens, as I even found the uncommon fruticose lichen, here:

I also found some strange fungi, like this specimen of Witch's Butter, above.  I also flipped over a few rocks, looking for herps.  The biggest animal I found was a centipede as long as my ring finger.  I flipped no more rocks after that, though there were many, many more:

At the top of the trail was a spectacular vista, looking out over the Mississippi River and the American Bottoms, the large, open lowlands across the river.

There were many people atop the bluff, and it was exceedingly difficult to take photos around them.  However, I managed to do so.  Here, you can see the parking lot below:

 I climbed back down the bluff and rejoined my dad, and then the rest of the family, happy to have seen all this on such a bizarrely beautiful January day.  While I had mixed feelings about seeing the bat, if it is what I think it is, that is the rarest animal I'll probably see all year, so that's amazing.  This is also the first time I've ever written and published a blog within 24 hours of the events taking place.  Hopefully, my luck holds out, as I still need that first herp of the year...