Spring has fully arrived and I’m sure you
are enjoying those warmer temperatures!
It’s not only us though who get more active when the conditions
change. You may recall in previous
issues we discovered how seasonality can affect bat behaviour, with churches
providing a safe haven at those most vulnerable times. In winter bats hibernate; but as night
temperatures rise above 10OC, they will wake up and take advantage
of increased insect activity. They start
emerging from April to May, and when they do, it offers an exciting opportunity
to get involved in recording any you see flying over any space.
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| Illustration by Liz Vinson |
Bats have unfortunately become an
endangered species over past decades, with major population declines. If you see a bat, its great news and
hopefully a positive sign that they are recovering. It can be hard to know this for certain, but that
is where submitting any sightings can help.
At the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT), there is a National Bat Monitoring
Programme (NBMP). NBMP has been
calculating population trends for over 20 years, with all records submitted by
volunteers. In fact, it’s all done on a
voluntary basis and there are over a 1,000 people throughout the UK who help each
year in carrying out bat surveys. Some
can be challenging, but the ‘Sunset/Sunrise’ survey is ideal for anyone. It simply involves heading out at dusk or
dawn, (or both) and spending an hour looking for bats flying overhead. This can be done anytime from April to
September; record the time, temperature and number of bats seen, and then send
through the results.
I’ve now left BCT, having taken up a Sustainability
Project Coordinator post at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford. The hospital does have a bat roost, and I am
certainly still passionate about the bat world.
If you’d like to get involved with the NBMP, please do email BCT’s
dedicated team nbmp@bats.org.uk
or look at their website www.bats.org.uk/pages/nbmp.html
Happy monitoring!
David Jackson
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