Moor Copse - Transects and Mist Netting The bat group will be undertaking a series of bat activity transects and mist netting activities at Moor copse nature reserve as part of the BBOWT Reserve Survey Programme. We need volunteers with reasonable bat detector skills who can give up one, to four evenings this summer (2011) to conduct transects across the site. As part of this there may be an opportunity to be involved in the mist netting that will also be taking place. Dates for the four surveys are provisional and will be weather dependant but are currently planned for: Mid May Mid June Mid July Mid August If you are interested in volunteering for this please send an e-mail battyclairea@gmail.com The RSP aims to standardise BBOWT's surveying approach and collect quantitative data using a repeatable methodology. The Reserve Survey Programme aims to:
Survey data will be used to establish both the species that are present on reserves and the population trends of selected species. This kind of information is essential in determining the management strategy for reserves. Ongoing surveys will also help to establish if any management alteration has worked.
Results
Our May transect was pushed until the end of May but we had an excellent turnout both in terms of people and bats.
With the first bats being noctules flying over the car park before we even started. We had 10 bat group volunteers so we were able to split into four teams for the transect and one netting team.
We did not get any bats in the net (largely due to poor siting as we started late) but had some good results on the transects.
Not all the results are in yet but team Katie and Hilton recorded noctules, pipistrelles brown long-eared and Daubenton’s.
See the attachment for more detail.
|  I Bats - Transects
This year members of the bat group will be taking part in the ibats project.
iBats is a partnership between The Zoological Society of London and The Bat Conservation Trust, working in partnership with a number of national NGO's. Together they run a number of national and international bat biodiversity monitoring projects to track changes in global biodiversity.
Being involved in the project will give the group not only the opportunity contribute to tracking changes in biodiversity but also serve to create much needed records of bats in our county, particularly in under recorded parts of the county and may also provide a focus for future survey and monitoring work.
The project involves conducting driven transects of five different 40km routes, using a time expansion bat detector and GPS device to record bat passes and their locations.
Each transect involves a driver and up to 3 passengers.
Transects will be carried out May - September with the July transect being repeated in August.
The aim of the survey is to gather data as part of the wider Ibats programme and to cover parts of the county where there are few or no records. The July and August transects will also form the basis of future monitoring.
Following a successful meeting on the 29th March we have now four survey teams established:
Team 1 - Reading, transect in May
Team 2 - Newbury, transect in June
Team 3 - Hungerford, transect in July and August
Team 4 - Wokingham and Windsor, transect in September.
We will then analyse and interpret all the data as a group on one day in October.
If you are interested in coming along on one of the transects or wish to set up a route of your own (bat group members only). Please contact Claire at battyclairea@gmail.com.
Results
Ibats transect Claire and Tina 7th May 2011
The transect went reasonably well we got all the equipment set up and going, we got a little lost and definitely went for longer and further than we had intended. Surprisingly did not get bored despite driving very slowly and not actually seeing much by way of bats.
The analysis has proved to be quite onerous and disappointingly we only picked up three species, but it was early May so I have high hopes for the remaining transects.
See attachment for more detail |
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Projects |