INVALUABLE BAT TRUSTS AND GROUPS:

First stop, Bat Conservation Trust....
When I learnt, that as a novice, I could listen to and identify the Bats that visit our garden each night it fired up the realisation that there really are some amazing Bat species here in the UK and that there are ways of getting closer to them whilst at the same time do something to help conserve their habitats.
When I found the Bat Conservation Trust online I was thrilled to read the open and honest articles and I felt refreshed by the way that the site encourages you to get involved with surveys, walks and conservation work. There are many Trusts where you are unable to make such a huge contribution just by offering a little of your time and that even simply just counting Bats in and out of a local roost can provide significant statistical data.

So, without hesitation, I joined the BCT and looking through the website I found the Online Training section comprehensive and none patronising for beginners. It logically takes you by the hand on how to do Field Surveys and it helped me realise that I could do this; that I too could help contribute but with a minimum of set up.

I also liked the communication set up whereby the BCT can notify your local Bat Group that you have joined; so if you want to get in touch, it has already made an introduction (of sorts) for you.

Local Bat Groups ~ Cheshire Bat Group...

I then found the Cheshire Bat Group. Like many groups, they are run by active conservationists and licensed members and I realised that this would be the first group that I could get directly involved in. I sent an email and was able to join their Yahoo news group which, when you join, puts you on their email list so you can get friendly advice and receive notice of events or participate in forum chats.

(I'll talk more about my first Cheshire Bat Group survey in my next blog - Manchester Airport Barns Bat Survey).

Coming soon on the Bat Yarns blog ...... Putting the ‘Barns’ into ‘Bats, Barns and Nocturnal Yarns’ : My first visit to the Manchester Airport Bat Barns with the Cheshire Bat Group.

Dog Walks, Bat Detectors and the Start of My Field Education...

After joining the BCT and the CBG, I ordered and received my Magenta Bat4 Detector. As I said in my earlier blog, I have gone for an entry level detector because I don’t want to be 'hand held' by the technology from the get-go. I want to learn from the ground upwards. As a Trainer by nature, I like to start at the beginning and build up from there; that way if you are ever going to educate other beginners you can do so knowing the basic information that will give them a good start to help nurture their growing interest.

Every night since, I have popped into the garden and listened for our nightly visitors and I can safely say that my Bat4 is not letting me down! It picks these little creatures up from quite a range and also from behind or to the side of you. You do need a direct location to really hear the frequency and type of sound that the bat/s are making, but I often hear a bat behind me which I would otherwise had missed if I was just reliant on my eyes.

Having the Bat Detector helps bring you into their world – you are no longer just dependant on your eyes, (which can often deceive you with a late-home blackbird, as it fast-feathers past the corner of your peripheral vision) you can now use your ears too to help locate the position of your observation target.

We’ve also been taking the dog for some late evening walks - which he finds the wait for a little frustrating! But the field that we normally walk him on comes alive at dusk with the Bats doing purposeful figures of eight over our heads and we can see them darting in and out of the tree lined hedging. A walk through the cemetery always provides the opportunity to practise tuning the sounds of the Bats because they are regular and plentiful in passes.

I now take my Bat detector with me wherever I go, especially when I know I will be out come nightfall. Walking the dog and even a cheeky outside-beer at the pub has brought to life the Bats that we would never have noticed before. Even the little stream on the way into town had me transfixed for over half an hour as I got to hear a different species of Bat to that on the field. The dog didn’t quite understand the hold up that night but he seems to be getting used to my stops and starts now.

I’ve also been videoing some of the passes that we’ve encountered. This helps me keep a record of the frequency my 'Bat4' was set to and also helps me ‘remember’ the type of sounds we were hearing. This I find really useful (as a beginner) because I can then compare my sounds with those on the BCT Sounds file pages.

http://youtu.be/cyDif6nfGzg

So, finding the BCT and the CBG and tooling myself with my Bat Detector have been a great start on my knowledge journey and I cannot recommend the BCT and your local Bat Group highly enough to help get you started.

xx

Anna

Bat Conservation Trust: http://www.bats.org.uk/

Cheshire Bat Group: http://www.record-lrc.co.uk/c1.aspx?Mod=Article&ArticleID=G00020001Magenta

(Bat Detectors) : http://www.magenta2000.co.uk/

Introduction to Bats, Barns and Nocturnal Yarns...

I have watched bats flit about a night for as long as I can remember. Creatures that make use of a time when there is no daylight or warmth from the sun (speaking as a sun worshipper) intrigue and inspire me.

As teenagers, my friends and I used to head down to the River Dee in Chester and sit, just opposite the Queen’s Park suspension bridge, and watch the bats leaving their roost on their nightly forage. We would sit, with our own catch - cones full of salty chips, regularly waving a plastic fork skewered chip to signal the emergence of another bat.

We would watch as they swooped and darted up to the tree line, then drop straight down towards the water surface catching their meal mid flight. After the catch, their flight would settle before detecting another winged morsel and they would repeat the manoeuvre. The sight of them flitting, darting, dropping and turning a silhouette against the darkening sky mesmerised me.

Gosh, to think – for over thirty years I have knowingly looked out for bats at dusk ,but surprisingly in all of that time, I had never pursued the interest any further. Well, that is except for a developing love for the ‘Tropical Bat House’ at Chester Zoo and the frequent urges I get to pay it a visit. I suspect it's a good thing that the Bat House doesn't offer admission without the cost of a full price Zoo ticket, otherwise I may be there so often I’d be wanting my own roost.

Then five years ago I moved to South Cheshire where every night our garden is visited by at least two foraging bats. You can almost set your watch by them. They appear just on the cusp of dusk as the daylight becomes a darkening, smoky blue hew and the blackbirds, the last to go to bed, ready themselves for their nightly roost with a final perimeter check.

These bats, their species previously unknown to me, have always circled between our and next door’s garden. Both gardens are lined with hedges to about fifteen to twenty feet high with a row of fir trees and plenty of bug attracting flowers, so it seems no surprise that we regularly get foraging bats. They often fly around between the two gardens at the height of our back door, which means we can stand and watch to our hearts content as they swoop towards the door and turn on a dime to catch their prey.

They have become such regulars that our neighbour pops out into the garden and utters a soft and welcoming “Hello Bat” as she stands smoking a late evening cigarette.


I think my interest has increased over the last twelve months after watching an episode of 'Spring Watch' on BBC2 – they had a group of Bat Conservationists that were using Bat Detectors to hear and locate bats and this has been in the back of my mind ever since. I’ve looked them up a few times and put them on my wish list, but finally ‘I got around’ to doing something about it.


Last month I finally got motivated to do some up to date research and I went and bought my first Bat Detector. The nightly chip-chop and click-clicks of the Bats echolocation sounds has intoxicated me ever since and it has spurred me on to get more involved with the conservation of these lovely creatures.




Hence my 'Bat, Barns and Nocturnal Yarns' blog.
I am a complete novice at Bat Detection, Species Recognition and Conservation Surveys so this is my way of recording the things I find on my nightly walks, surveys and group meetings that I go to and I will also share some of the 'Bat Facts' and web links that I learn along the way.

If, like me you have even a passing interest in these intriguing creatures then it’s good to have you along for the experience and maybe we can learn a thing or two together.

Xx

Anna.

Chester Zoo: http://www.chesterzoo.org/must-sees/animal-exhibits/fruit-bat-forest

Photo: Queens Park Suspension Bridge2 (c) http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokerbrit/ by Steve

Photo: Bats,Barns & Nocturnal Yarns (c) Anna Ganderton 2011