---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bat Box Checks Beale Park
9th October 2011
Several members of the group went along to Beale park to check the 36 bat boxes that were erected last year by Dave Coles the Curator (who also was one of our trainees on during the winter workshops). The bat boxes are the standard wooden type boxes and have been put three to a tree in various locations across the park. Despite our high hopes none of the boxes had any evidence of occupation by bats. Given the nature of the site this is a little unexpected we will be looking into the reasons none of the boxes are being used. In the meantime we were able to console ourselves with some up-close views of the various occupants of the park, including a particularly splendid if indignant Axis deer stag.
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Hibernacula Repairs - Black Park
2nd October 2011
A small (but dedicated) team of people went along to the hibernacula at Black Park. We replaced the damaged door cleared out glass and other debris and discussed future enhancements for the site.
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Bat Box Checks - Clayfield Copse
August and September
Success!!!
We have now carried out two sets of checks of the new boxes at clayfield and have found a box full of brown long-eared bats using one of the larger boxes and several of the other boxes in occupation by soprano pipistrelle bats.
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Bats in the News
Glyn one of our newer members spoke to the Maidenhead Advitsier about some of the work the group have been undertaking recently.
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Bat Walk Maiden Early Nature Reserve
26th May 2011
Claire lead a bat walk for the Friends of Maiden Early Nature Reserve. The evening started well with a talk attended by about 25 – 30 people, Rosie and another pipistrelle. Several members of the bat group were present including James, Katie, Rose-Anne and Bob, Steve and Glyn.
The walk then started quietly with no bats picked up initially (we started walking clockwise from point 131). After a short burst of excitement when a man was found lying on the floor and a pause whilst we waited for an ambulance we started picking up our first pipistrelle bats with some good views of them feeding in the open areas beside the lake. We picked up both common and soprano bats here.
We then made our way to the north side of the lake and excitement mounted when we caught a fleeting glimpse of a noctule which quickly receded into the distance we need not have worried as within a few minutes we were treated to some excellent views of noctules tearing up and down the lake with plenty of feeding buzzes as they went.
As we moved further down the lake we started picking up Daubenton’s (as it was now dark enough for these bats to emerge) and had good views of these bats hunting just over the surface of the water, especially good views were achieved from the bridge at the end of the lake.
There was a good level of activity with something for everyone to see.
Check out the attachment at the bottom of the page for some more details of what we recorded.
Visit to the Sussex Bat Hospital
7th May 2011
Jenny Clarke kindly agreed to have a small group of us decend on her for the day, we had the opertunity to look around at her set up and get up close and personal with many of her education bats. It was a fantastic day all round. Bridget has included a write up of the day with some photos on her blog
Clayfield Copse Boxes Day
12th December 2011
Clayfield Copse and Blackhouse woods are located to the north of Reading on the Berkshire Oxfordshire border. The site was Reading's first local nature reserve and in part is designated as ancient woodland containing service trees, wild pear, bluebells, common orchids, and wood anemones. The site was once part of the Caversham House Estate whose landscapes were designed by Capability Brown and isolated specimens of Cedar and Scots pine remain. The site is Approximately eight hectares in size, the site is the only outcrop of London Clay north of the Thames River in Reading and makes up the southern tip of the Chilterns.
The site is actively managed by a number of different conservation groups including Friends of Clayfield Copse (for more info see their website at http://www.econetreading.org.uk/clayfield/). Some years ago the bat group helped to carry out a number of tasks in the woodland including erecting fencing and laying paths to redirect members of the public away from a bat roost that at the time was low down and very close to the path. The roost was a mixed roost of Noctule and Daubentons bats. The woodland was monitored for around 5 years during which time many other roosts were discovered in the woodland. Around 15 years ago a number of wooden bat boxes were erected along with some experimental log boxes and wood-crete boxes. The boxes were monitored for a couple of years and bats were recorded using some of the boxes. During checks carried out in 2009 and 2010 we tried to re-locate the boxes all of the log boxes and wood-crete boxes had all but disintegrated. Some of the wooden boxes remain. The remaining boxes were re-secured to the trees and re-numbered but no bats were present during the Autumn check in 2009 or the summer check this year.
Although bats no longer use the main roost a new roost site for noctules was found within the woodland and an emergence count in September revealed over 72 bats emerging from the roost.
Recently the group decided to revive the monitoring project at this woodland and purchased a number of Woodcrete bat boxes. The boxes were chosen to provide a variety of conditions for a number of different species of bat.
On the 12th December we had a bright clear day and a number of willing volunteers including existing members and some of the trainees. Everyone was keen to get going so Tina went of with one group to look for suitable trees in good locations whilst the other group unpacked and numbered the boxes. We got off to a good start but it took all day to get all the boxes up and the last one went up just as it was getting dark. In total we erected 14 bat boxes and 5 bird boxes. The bat boxes were all Schwegler woodcrete boxes, except one homemade wooden one that was donated along with the bird boxes. We put up different types of boxes including:
Two large hibernation boxes also known as 1FW boxes which are designed to provide a stable environment. In Surrey and Wiltshire this type of box is favoured by noctules;
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Two smaller general purpose boxes or 1FS which although not specifically a hibernation box provide more insulation than most;
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Eight flat backed boxes or 1FF’s it is hoped that the crevice style space provided by this box with be suitable for a number of species;
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One standard 2FDFP bat box suitable for many species of bat; and
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One wooden bat box donated along with the bird boxes.
Tacking the lessons learnt in the Finemere Wood in Bucks we wanted to put up some bird boxes along side the bat boxes to give bats a chance to use the boxes early in the season, the idea being that a pair of birds would take up residence in the bird box and put others off using the bat box. The FOCC kindly donated 5 bord boxes so these were put up alongside the bat boxes.
The boxes will now be monitored to see what the uptake is like and to help build a picture of the bats using this woodland. Other surveys are planned for later in the year along with checks of the boxes so keep an eye on the calendar if you are interested in joining in.
This article written by FOCC recently appeared in the Local Press:
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A mooch around the Millie.
Back in September the bat group lead a walk in conjunction with the Wildlife Trust and the Friends of Haymill Valley Nature Reserve around a small piece of woodland known as the Millie. Despite being surrounded on three sides by urban or industrial development we picked up common and soprano pipistrelles and noctule bats. The group hopes to repeat the walk earlier in the summer next year and have decided to buy a bat detector. Click on the link to the Haymill info website where more details of the evenings findings can be seen. http://www.martin.carter.dsl.pipex.com/Haymill2/millie0910.html
If you are interested in participating in walks or talks check out our calendar page to see if there is an event near you or go to our contact page. |
Noctule Bat  |