Volunteer Voices - John Docherty

A brand new blog series about the fantastic people who dedicate their time to help bat conservation.

How did you become involved with bats?

Soprano pipistrelle

I first got into bats over 10 years ago when I started to volunteer with Sue Lonsdale at the Wildlife Trust. Back then she was running a project about soprano pipistrelles, along the Bradshaw Valley in Bolton. I also kept on bumping into Steve and Fiona Parker (from South Lancs Bat Group) at gigs and we always got chatting about bands and bats.  

I had always wanted to stay more involved than I had, but life, jobs, moving, kept getting in the way. When I moved to my current house a couple of years ago, there was enough money in my budget to buy a bat detector. I decided to put my bat detector to good use and took part in South Lancs Bat Group’s BATlas Project.

Did you always like bats and being around in nature?

I’ve always enjoyed being outside and taking part in BCT’s Sunset Survey and the Waterway Survey. It’s a great way to get outside in the fresh air with your bat detector, whether if it’s just a quick walk down to the local park or for a longer walk exploring a new area. It feels like you are also contributing to something worthwhile like science and nature.  

Apart from the joy of seeing bats, what else do you like about taking part in surveys?

As a biochemist, there is nothing that I enjoy more than starting to see a graph coming together for the Waterway Survey that I take part in. It’s only been two years and four surveys worth of data so far, but it’s still a nice feeling knowing that you are adding to our knowledge of bats; you can see your contribution to a long-term population study which is very exciting.

On a side note, my partner has always been intrigued by bats when she has gone camping, and she didn’t know detectors were really a thing. She has enjoyed coming out with me looking for bats and learning about them. Plus, as an accountant, she’s also enjoyed seeing the graphs associated with the Waterway Survey as well.

What would you say to someone who is perhaps intrigued by the idea of a bat survey, but hasn’t signed up for one yet?

Just do, you'll be amazed by the bats and also the other nocturnal animals that you will see along the way. You won't be disappointed - that’s a promise.

If you want to find out more about other volunteering opportunities visit this page.

The Living Alongside Bats in Churches Grant

by Hazel Tocock, BCT's Bats in Churches Advisor

During the Bats in Churches (BiC) Project, hundreds of churches were supported through advice, support, bat education and funding. We discovered that even small funds could make a big difference; churches who were experiencing mess in the church because of the bat roost were given new cleaning equipment, or new covers for artefacts and pews, for example.

St. Andrew, Field Dalling, in Norfolk was one such church who received new pew covers to protect their pews from the bat mess. They said:

New pew cover. (c) St. Andrew, Field Dalling

“You provided us with money for new and attractive covers for the most affected pews and the altar, to protect them from the remaining problem. All this was very worthwhile and helped us feel that someone out there was on our side!”

Inspired by the BiC project, we are excited to announce the launch of the Living Alongside Bats in Churches grant. The Bat Conservation Trust, Natural England, the Church of England, Churches Conservation Trust and Historic England have come together to offer support for small-scale solutions to places of worship who need help with their roost, for example, there may be an increased cleaning burden. Funded by Natural England, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, grants up to £1000 are available and will be used to fund small-scale solutions such as a seasonal professional cleaner, new pews, new cleaning equipment or protective measures for heritage items.

To receive the grant, the place of worship will need to hold a positive community engagement activity inspired by nature. Wildlife engagement activities help connect people to nature on their doorstep and encourage the community to interact with their local place of worship where they may not have done so before. During the BiC Project, many churches held bat inspired events and evenings and discovered what a brilliant attraction bats can be!

A real success story of a nature inspired community event was when the BiC Project supported St. Mary, Stevington, in Bedfordshire, when they held a nature weekend in 2022, ‘Stevington Goes Wild’. Here is what they had to say: 

“It was hot but there were such lovely shady spots in the churchyard, people decided to stay and enjoy the afternoon. It was laid back and relaxing and the activities were right for the occasion. An Owl man and his owls were a big attraction; the Wildlife Trust had some good activities; there were areas for making bug hotels; sowing seeds for edible plants to take home and an art area for various arty creations; the story reading was a great success and the refreshments - loads of delicious cakes and ice creams went down a treat. Two local environment groups came along with information and a couple of MSc students working on water quality of our River Ouse were with them. The church was able to promote the Big Butterfly Count which is taking place at the moment. A perfect day to be honest and wonderful to see the Church enjoyed and children happy to play and be together there. I have whittled on about it because I want to show you how much we and the village appreciated it and to thank you and the Project for making it possible. Not only was it a social occasion but it was the chance to welcome people into the church and show that we regard our natural environment as a priority and an opportunity to increase people's understanding of the natural world. Result!”

Applications for the Living Alongside Bats in Churches grant are now open to all places of worship in England. We will run the grant twice a year and encourage those who are not successful the first-time around to apply at the next available opportunity.

If you know of, or are a place of worship who would benefit from this grant, please see our website for more information.

 

How cross stitching helped bats

by Eva Wild

In February of 2024, I raised £320 for the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) through cross stitch and here's how!

Firstly, why choose the Bat Conservation Trust to raise money for? BCT does amazing work in the protection of bats, work that often gets missed by other animal charities. Bats are often seen as these scary creatures – related to vampires and monsters – and despite my zine being called ‘Spooky Stitchings’, bats are anything but! They are amazing creatures that benefit the environment, they provide pest control, help to pollinate, disperse seeds and if nothing else, are pretty darn cute!

The BCT help to provide scientific evidence to aid conservation and secure and enhance bat populations.

So, how did I raise money for BCT? I created Spooky Stitchings, a digital cross stitch zine, with 5 unique cross stitch patterns based on the theme 'bats', from different cross stitch designers. This zine included information about all the designers, BCT and my own shop MonsterousDesigns.

What is a zine you might ask? A zine - pronounced ZEEN - comes from the word magazine and is a small collection of art, images etc. set around a theme and is meant to be easy to distribute and consume. My cross stitch zine was a collection of 5 cross stitch patterns, based on the theme 'bats', designed by different cross stitch artists.

Originally, the idea of Spooky Stitching didn't start as a zine but as a collaborative stitching box. I wanted to combine some of the things I love doing best with MonsterousDesigns, which is making patterns in collaboration with artists and making cross stitch kits.

However, every time I thought about the logistics of it, it just wasn't going to work at this time - if nothing else, I don't have the room to store everything!

Then I joined The Stitchers Collective, an amazing group of cross stitch pattern makers. The Stitchers Collective have been running both charity pattern bundles and have their own zine under Stitchy Goodness. Being part of this group made me think that I could do something similar and adapt my original collab stitching box into a collaborative zine.

With this, Spooky Stitchings came into being, a zine that I could use to raise money for charity and collaborate with different designs. Some issues of Spooky Stitchings will be there to raise money for charity, whereas other will be able to pay the designers for their hard work. If you would like to find out more about the zine and what's included, please check out my website here.

When it came to the physical creation of my zine, the first step was to get some designers involved. I posted on social media a sign up link, where anyone could join up if they had a way of creating patterns. You didn't have to be a known designer, just someone with a passion for it! Signups were open for 1 week and then after they closed I contacted 5 designers to get involved.

Whilst they set to work on making their patterns, I started designing the zine itself. I had a general idea of the layout I wanted and colour schemes and had already commissioned a set of logos to use. But it took months of fine tuning and getting the opinions of friends to get it to its final state.

Once I had all the patterns from the designers, I set to work making them into the easy read format I choose for my own designs and transferred them into the zine. Each design had 3 formats to choose from, so everyone could choose what worked best for them. And with some extra tweaks here and there, and the approval of the designers, the zine was finished.

The zine was available to buy between the 23rd February and 23rd March 2024. My initial goal for the zine was to raise £100, as I'd never done anything like this before. But everyone involved was so amazing and within the first day of sale, that £100 goal was smashed!

Over the next couple of weeks, more sale kept pouring in, right up until the last minute. Overall, we ended up raising £320 for the Bat Conservation Trust and I couldn't be more proud!

The zine was well received and the reviews were pouring in - here are a few of them!

*****

 

"The patterns are cute and colorful and you can feel the passion for bats and conservation w this zine! I think Odd Bat Out will be my first one to work on. Highly recommend! I use digital patterns and I had no trouble downloading or accessing the document. The seller is very responsive so if you do run into anything no doubt she will get it sorted!"

- Samantha

*****

"Ever since the words "bat zine" were announced I've been waiting impatiently for this zine and it does not disappoint. Amazing designs from amazing people. I only wish there were more!"

- Valerie

*****

"The patterns are wonderful and beautifully arranged together in zine form. Each pattern is presented in black and white and color and they’re easy to read. I’m excited to stitch all these bats!"

- Erin

The next Spooky Stitchings zine will be available in September 2024 with the theme Bones. If you're interested in the zine or being a designer, be sure to keep an eye out on my Instagram @monsterousdesigns and on my website here.

I also have lots of digital cross stitch patterns available on my Etsy shop - MonsterousDesigns - with many bat themed patterns and more in the works.

Never tried cross stitch before? Then no worries, as all my patterns are beginner friendly and come with an in-depth cross stitch guide to get you started. I also do limited launches of cross stitch kits, that include everything you could need to get started.

Working for Norfolk’s Bats

by Jane Harris and the Norfolk & Norwich Bat Group

(c) Jane Harris/Norfolk & Norwich Bat Group

On March 9^th, Norfolk and Norwich Bat Group held a mini-conference ‘Working for Norfolk’s Bats’ to highlight some of the bat conservation issues of particular importance in the county and to showcase the work of the group. The conference was also designed to show members who were neither consultants nor licensed bat workers, how they could get involved with bat conservation. To achieve these aims, the format was three presentations with half-hourly intervals, during which attendees were encouraged to look at the poster displays and engage with committee members to learn about these opportunities.

The first presentation was on ‘the Barbastelle super-colony’ which is threatened by a major road-building scheme in Norfolk, and was presented by Dr Charlotte Packman who has studied the colony in great detail for five years. Phil Parker gave the second presentation aptly entitled ‘ Norfolk’s churches – are they purpose-built bat roosts’ which stimulated great interest from members keen to survey their local church. Finally, Jane Harris presented ‘Nathusius’ pipistrelle – resident and marathon migrant’ which was a summary of the group’s work on this species and included migration studies using the MOTUS wildlife tracking system.

Poster displays included the National Bat Monitoring Programme, borrowing a bat detector, searching for new hibernation sites, surveying churches, helping with bat walks and events and training to help with emergence surveys and radio-tracking on the barbastelle and Nathusius’ pipistrelle projects.

Feedback was very positive and we hope to build on the success. Furthermore, we raised funds from ticket sales, the raffle and sales of homemade cakes which will help towards a major project to secure and protect one of the county’s best hibernation sites.

(c) Jane Harris/Norfolk & Norwich Bat Group

(c) Jane Harris/Norfolk & Norwich Bat Group

If you would like to know more about UK local bat groups visit this page. 

Volunteer Event Welcome Walk

by Nicky Fish, our Wales Officer for the Woodland Hope Project

With torrential downpours for the week leading up to our first scheduled event of the year (which took place on Sunday, 17th March) it was looking unlikely that we would go ahead but my good ‘ole sundance worked its magic and miraculously it was so warm and sunny I went without my coat!

(c) Elliot Bastos

Ten people joined Elliot (Woodland Hope's Assistant Project Officer) and myself for an introductory meet up and walk at the spectacular Conwy Forest Falls in Snowdonia.

The circular walk around the woods runs down to the deep gorge of the Fairy Glen and is set in 10 acres of Sites of Special Scientific Interest native woodland, so we were able to show the volunteers the typical type of veteran oaks inhabited by the mosses, ferns and lichens that are so special to this area and the Celtic Rainforests that the project will work in over the coming Summer.

On a usual day the waterfall and gorge are pretty spectacular but even more so on this occasion after so much rain; the spray from the colossal waterfall hitting our faces as we walked above. In fact, it was hard to tear the group away from its draw, which enabled me to chat to an elderly couple sitting for a breather on the viewing bench and give them a quick ten minute ‘Bats and Wildlife Gardening’ top tips. They were completely enthralled by this and promised to go home, create a pond and plant lots of native wildflowers to attract moths and other beneficial insects for bats!

After the woodland walk we retired to the Conwy Forest Park Café for refreshments and our volunteers learned about the passive acoustic monitoring methodology and the Audio Moth detectors (and others) we will be using to monitor the Celtic rainforests over the summer and how to use the software to set up and read the results.

We look forward to welcoming the group back in May at one of our rainforest locations once bats have emerged from hibernation for further training and upskilling. 

If you would like to find out more about the Woodland Hope project visit this page.

(c) Nicky Fish

 

St. Michael & All Angels church welcomes bats

by Gillian Halcrow, Churchwarden at St. Michaels & All Angels

St. Michael & All Angels, Withyham in East Sussex is a beautiful, historic country church with the Sackville Chapel and being the resting place in the crypt for the Earls and Dukes of Dorset. Lord and Lady De La Warr are our Patrons.

During renovations in the 1850s wooden ceiling tiles, with stars, were installed in the nave and chancel. The old nails holding these wooden tiles in place were now beginning to disintegrate and one fell a couple of years ago (luckily into an empty church) and others were not looking safe. We had reached a point when these tiles needed to be secured again with modern screws.

We had a trusted builder set to do the job in January 2024 when the thought of BATS came to us with bats and their droppings being seen in the Vestry. With the knowledge that bats are a protected animal, we had to take this seriously.

Initially we approached a company who would investigate whether we had bats but were shocked at the cost. It was suggested that we approach the Bat Conservation Trust, which I quickly did. Their service being free of charge.

From the start we had professional advice. Within a couple of weeks we had a volunteer visit our church with further helpful and friendly advice. She suggested that if we were willing to delay the work until April, being a time when the bats would come out of hibernation and before the new bat babies were born. Then she would recommend that we could go ahead during the month of April. Some weeks later we received a letter from Natural England confirming this.

During this process we have learnt a lot about our bats and feel honoured and protective of them, knowing that they find our roof tiles a safe hibernating place, although they make a mess in the Vestry, we can cope with that! We now feel that our bats are more part of our community!

We have made a donation to the Bat Conservation Trust. Although this is a very expensive job, they have saved us a lot of money initially and have given us a professional service. 

Thank you!

Please note, we rely on the generosity of Natural England’s Volunteer Bat Roost Visitors to undertake free bat surveys. Given the voluntary nature of this service, response times may vary. The statutory written advice received after the survey, provided on behalf of Natural England, is personalised and will be dependent on various factors specific to your church. We can only provide advice that falls within the boundaries of the free advice service. Response times between visit and letter may also vary.

To find out more and get personalised advice for your church visit this page. 

Meeting Angela Jones, the Guardian of the River Wye

Angela Jones is an environmental campaigner and a guardian of the nature she finds around her. She spends her days above and below the surface of the River Wye, monitoring and protecting the ecosystems there, which she has been doing for an incredible four decades. Our Species Advocacy and Policy Officer Lil McDermaid interviewed her about her passion for nature.

What do you get up to in the environment near you?

What don't I get up to! I'm out 24/7 really so I monitor the aquatic life, I monitor the local otters, I have a bat detector, I sleep on the banks. Everything really, it goes without saying. You do it naturally without even knowing that you do it. I test the water, I train up volunteers to test the water. I have trained hundreds of volunteers over the years and set up many river groups around the country. We have had severe pollution problems in our rivers which is having a devastating effect on all wildlife. The ammonia from intensive poultry units has also had a devastating effect on our ancient woodlands.  I'm just very in tune with everything around me and I'm very connected with the nature.

When did this passion for the environment start?

I get that question all the time and it never started. I have two children and when I gave birth to those children, I vowed always to protect them and I always do the same to my surroundings and environment automatically. I don't see anything else - it's like cleaning your teeth every day. It's something you do and all the campaigning I do nobody can ever knock down because they know there is no ulterior motive to me.

At the Bat Conservation Trust, we obviously tend to gravitate towards bat stories. How would you describe your relationship with your local bat populations?

Absolutely adore them! My favourite thing I do, at least through the winter, even when I was a child I used to do this, I've always slept out on the banks of the river where the bat colonies are. I night swim maybe two/three times a week. I slip into the water and I know where the bats are and I share that beauty with them. I can't think of anything more beautiful and you know where the roosts are and they start skimming around. I do night kayaking too in certain sections and they come swooping through and it's just beautiful. There's one particular part where I sleep out where the caves are and it's just wonderful. It's a delight and your heart warms because you know when people get excited by Christmas lights? I always get excited when I see the bats.

It is great to hear that you are so involved in monitoring your local wildlife, including bats! Have you got any experiences you would like to share from seeing the wildlife in one area change over the course of many years?

Yes so I sleep in caves as well. And in the Wye Valley, there's one particular cave I've been going into and sleeping in for 30 odd years with no lights, really quiet and lie down in a bivvy bag, and we used to have greater horseshoes in the lower chamber and I never went in that chamber.

 Everyone seems to be adventure people now so 40 years ago I was eccentric but now I'm fashionable because of all of these [people] coming into the wild side and I'm happy to share but we need respect.

In this one cave, people are sleeping in the cave but going into the chamber where the horseshoes are and lighting fires so we've lost that whole colony in there. But really it's a circle of life and for us to get the benefits, we should protect the house and wealth of nature; it complements our health and there's a big gap missing in that. I teach them how to respect nature and the environment, to have that enjoyment and that whole circle, and then my business funds test kits for volunteers to test the water. It's people thinking 'I'll do adventure, I'll go out' but they haven't got the connection with the nature there and it's so important that they have that. We can become guardians of the outdoors just by respecting it.

What causes have you spoken up for/campaigned on recently?

The rivers, the salmon and the otters. I was at Defra when the State of Nature report came out and gave them in a letter. BCT were there too so I had a good chat with them. I campaign tirelessly, have spoken at Westminster four times in the last twelve months, given evidence at Westminster, made lots of national programmes and been part of BBC Panorama. There was a court case against the Environment Agency by River Action to hold Defra to account. My fingers are in many pies. Aggression doesn't bring progression but longevity and persistence does.

Do you have any tips for people who are looking to become more involved in speaking up for their local area, especially through volunteering?

I would look to see if there's any Facebook groups out there already set up. Locally here, I'm part of the Save the Swifts group and Save the Otters and I founded Save the River Usk group and I have spent 6 years on the Save the Wye group. Sometimes there's a group already set up but maybe if there isn't one, ping it out on social media.

The other thing I have is an app on my phone called the iNaturalist app so when I see wildlife I try to quickly take a photo so it logs it and can monitor it and put in a big database. When you put your photo in, you can get information on the species and it might be a blade of grass or a butterfly or a bird of prey. You can also see where it has been seen before and a little bit about it. I used to carry a little book with this information and I love the idea of having that. I just came back from the Orkney Islands and I saw basking sharks and it was so nice to identify them and log them with the other people who had seen them as well. You can look back on your data as well and it's simplistic but it feeds the imagination and makes that wildlife so much more interesting because you've got a little bit of information about it.

When you go out, a lot of people walk but they have blinkers on. But drop the blinkers and just absorb where you are, and there's always something fascinating going on. I remember there was a person who used a wheelchair who had a 3ft by 3ft garden path and a micro camera so you don't need a mountain nearby to find nature but it's fascinating how the wildlife adapts.

What has been your favourite experience with bats?

I absolutely adore bats. It's got to be night swimming and getting in the river just before dusk and the flow of the water on your skin and the crispness of it and when the bats come out and start taking the insects. The first thing I look for when it gets to dusk is the amount of insects in a place. Most people think 'oh no, gnats!' but I think 'oh great - there's an excellent food source for bats!'. When the bats all start coming out it's so exciting and they all scoop so close and I have such massive hair I think they're going to get stuck if they get any closer!

What one message would you have for policymakers when it comes to the environment?

If you stripped everybody bare of all they have in life, we all have one mother nature. It's not all about self-gain and greed, it's way, way bigger than that and if we haven't got a good environment and nature around us, we've got nothing.

My careers officer asked what I wanted to do when I left school and I said I wanted a life of seeing nature and adventure. I am a Gemini and dyslexic and I see things black and white so I see things and I do them. I live outdoors all the time, I'm never unwell, and never unhappy apart from when I see awful things happening in the environment.

People always ask me what are you hiding from because I'm always outdoors and always enjoying wildlife. I find that a really strange question because when you truly know yourself and are connected, you have a most wonderful peaceful feeling within yourself. I'm the most connected person you could possibly meet. It's weird how people think it's the norm to not be connected or in tune. I was showing a lady the aquatic life in a river and she was asking if I ever wonder about my safety. Wildlife and nature never give me a problem but it's only tricky when you bring humans into the situation.

To find out more about Angela visit her website here.