National Trust for Scotland

Theave Bat Reserve and here.

Human Echolocation

Follow this link.  bldgblog.blogspot

New Myotis species discovered in UK

'Myotis alcathoe, or Alcathoe's bat, was identified by a research team led by Professor John Altringham at the University of Leeds and Professor Roger Butlin of the University of Sheffield during a Europe-wide study of bat population ecology.'  Full story here; http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/786/bat_species_discovered_for_the_first_time_in_uk

Common toad

Francis found this toad yesterday.  Looked like he had just come out of hibernation, very lethargic and skinny with great folds of loose skin hanging off his back and legs.  We moved him, her or it, as I don't know if you can sex a toad, under a hedge otherwise the rooks might have got it.

Bat food

Midges in the back garden at about 6.45pm.

They're back!

We have been away for a few days so they could have been out earlier but today, at last the bats are back in the garden.  But it's still cold, currently just over 7c and the max today of just over 11c.  However there's obviously plenty of food judging by the mess on the front of the car after a run down the motorway.  Has anyone else seen them sooner?

Start of bat season?

Judging by the number of midges and mosquitos that are out at at dusk, the bats can't be far off.  So far we haven't seen or heard any at home. Have you?

University of Bristol, School of Biological Sciences

If you don't already know about this it's worth looking at. A very useful resource.

www.bio.bris.ac.uk/research/bats/britishbats

Sculpture

Beautiful sculpture but the image seems to play on the idea that bats are unclean. Kate D MacDowell

Bat moments

Memorable bat moments are not just huge numbers of bats or seeing rare species. One of my best bat experiences this year was sitting by a tarn just after sunset, watching Daubenton’s clearly visible gaffing insects from the surface of the water in the still pink light. What made it more enjoyable was having fellow bat enthusiasts to share the moment with.  SP.

Boat sail - bat wing

Found this site, Transition Rig, ages ago.

Not poetry corner

I'm not goint to start posting my poetry here on a regular basis but I wrote this a few months ago and don't know what else to do with it.  No title but I think that you will guess what it's about.


Whilst some fear you
For your black coat, and your silent hunting
I fear that one day, you won't be there

Are bats sensitive to sound disturbance?

As we all know, bats are very sensitive to noise disturbance, particularly when in a maternity roost. Imagine my surprise then, to find a pipistrelle maternity roost right behind the speakers at an outward bounds centre games room. They could clearly be seen and the droppings were spilling onto the seats underneath. The speakers were used weekly for the groups’ disco.  SP.

Comments

I have just changed the settings so anyone can comment without having to subscribe or log in.

Wind generators II

This is one of the more informative explanations.  http://www.newscientist.com/articlevideo/dn16401/6948847001-why-wind-turbines-arent-batfriendly.html

Wind generators

Just found this link http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14593?DCMP=ILC-tabComArt&nsref=dn14593 regarding bat fatalities.  I have read so many strange explanations for these incidents, including one that described "the bats wing had been chopped clean off" as though the turbine blades were made from kitchen knives, that I am sometimes left in disbelief.  Are these reports genuine or have they been made up by campaigners against wind farms? Any comments? 

So you think you’ve got bats

This summer there was an urgent call to the helpline. A woman had found a dead bat in a bedroom and heard squeaking near the window. A builder was booked to repair the gap in the window casing and replace the window frame, so she wanted to make sure no harm was going to come to the bats. The whole bedroom and loft were searched for the squeaking bats to no avail. There were three droppings on the window pane and a nice gap in the south-facing sandstone coping, so Andy sat outside in anticipation of a roost full of bats emerging. A few bats buzzed past but disappointingly none emerged from the gap. The builder was given the go-ahead to proceed with caution. The clues were all there but we still hadn’t found the roost. The householder was asked to keep an eye out for the bats and see if she could work out where they were coming from. She sent a sheepish email a few days later. She had identified the source of the squeaking: her rubber gloves.   SP.

Cumbrian mine

The Hairdressers & the bat No 2

Alison’s parents have been married for 40 years. In all that time, apart from occasional visits to hospital, they have never slept apart. One evening they were settling into bed when her mother noticed a bat on the bedroom door. “Get it out of here!” she demanded. “Ignore it,” her husband responded heroically “It’ll be gone in the morning” And for the first time in 40 years, Mr & Mrs slept in separate bedrooms.

A few pictures look good on the blog, so here's one of a roof.