It is going to be just like spring pilgrimage in Natchez,” I joked to my wife standing on the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas.

We had been standing along the railing for at least 45 minutes waiting for bats. I didn’t know until the night before our trip that Austin is home to North America’s largest urban bat colony. Between March and October, thousands of bats lodge in the structure of this particular bridge each day.

Just after sundown, they begin their nightly search for mosquitoes and other flying insects all over central Texas.

Tourist websites and newspaper articles tout this Austin spectacle as one not to miss. Intrigued by these descriptions, we hiked to the bridge and waited for the bat show to begin.

During my fidgeting, I joked that this bat display was going begin like the Historic Natchez Tableau. “Two little bats are going to emerge in the darkness lit by a single spotlight,” I said. “They will carry little placards to announce the show.”

I realize it was corny, but I knew it would elicit a chuckle from my wife, who once was one of those little placard bearers.

Without a starting time and with no real idea what to expect, we enjoyed watching the spectacle of all of us watching for the bat signal. This is an immensely popular event. When we first took our place on the north side of the bridge, we joined may be 20 or 30 interested onlookers.

As the minutes ticked, the crowd grew from nearly every direction. People joined us on top of the bridge, while others stopped along the riverbank below. A small group of kayakers led by a tour guide made their way down the river to the bridge. They soon were joined by canoeists, pontoon boats and stand-up paddle surfers.

People watched from hotel balconies, restaurant patios, boat docks and the parking lot of the local newspaper. They had camp stools and blankets and babies in strollers.

By the time the bats began to swarm from the bridge I remarked that somewhere between 500 and 750 people had come just to watch.

For a few spellbinding minutes, we all watched this natural phenomenon — a show costing only the time we spent watching the sun set.

When it had grown too dark to see, we walked around the corner to get dinner. We were not the only ones.

On our way we saw exercisers on the riverfront trail and couples waiting for tables at their favorite restaurants.

It seems that Austin has found the right balance between preserving its natural resource while simultaneously fostering commercial development.

It is a lesson that Natchez has yet to learn — that responsible development and a beautiful environment can coexist.

In recent weeks, the discussion about Roth Hill development has moved from talk of one casino to a riverboat hotel and dinner cruises on a paddlewheeler.

At the same time, the Natchez Trails construction continues to re-make the Mississippi River Bluff area into a feature more accessible to locals and tourist alike.

Unfortunately, the trails project will have a gap at the old Pecan Factory site. There, an earlier city administration handed over the public use of the bluff to condominium developers.

That decision is unlike the city of Austin’s vision that public parks and commercial developments are not mutually exclusive. With respect to Roth Hill and the public property below the bluff, I hope the city understands that public access is just as vital to the future of riverfront development as commercial investment.

Ben Hillyer is the web editor of The Democrat. He can be reached at ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com or 601-445-3540.