[paulwfromtheden]

I went for a walk this lunchtime along the canal that leads to Shadwell Basin in East London and was absolutely flabbergasted to see a bat hawking moths and sneaking a quick drink from the canal!!!
It was 14:20 on a bright, sunny afternoon.
Is this unusual, and any ideas about what species it would be? It was small, brown and bat-like!!
Cheers
Paul

[jimbob]

If it was hawking low over a canal, I would suggest Daubentons. Did it have a white belly? If so confirm it as a Daubentons! Mid afternoon is a bit odd though- mouths to feed? Cant they wait til the evening?!
Cheers,
Jim.

[paulwfromtheden]

Originally Posted by jimbob

If it was hawking low over a canal, I would suggest Daubentons. Did it have a white belly? If so confirm it as a Daubentons! Mid afternoon is a bit odd though- mouths to feed? Cant they wait til the evening?!
Cheers,
Jim.

Hi Jim,
I dont think it had a white belly. Looking at a very poor reference book, I would say that a Pipistrelle looks the closest.
The great thing was to able to see a bat in broad daylight.
Luckily a school was passing and I was able to point the bat out to the kids. They were enthralled, asking all sorts of questions.
That was my good deed for the day.

[DaveN]

I saw a bat on my local patch flying around the pool back in April. This was also mid afternoon and surprised me so I posted such on another forum. I got a response from Derbyshire Bat conservation group.

I'm sure some of this wouldn't be relevant to your bat but this is what he said.

Dave, its not that unusual at all. Bats are coming out of hibernation at the
moment and on mild sunny days it isnt uncommon to see some recently aroused bats
flying about trying to find some food after a long stint without. Ive heard
several reports of bats flying in the daytime recently.

Its is also not unusual to see Noctules flying early evening when it is still
quite light - I often watch them at Stubbing Pond flying high above the lake
with the Swifts. Some species of bat such a Noctule and Pipistrelle are more
tolerant of high light levels and so will emerge earlier in the evening to feed
if neccessary, whilst species such as Natterer's and Brown Long-eared tend to
emerge later, being less tolerant of light.

There is also the possibilty that bats seen flying in the middle of the day are
doing so due to the disturbance of their roost.

[paulwfromtheden]

Originally Posted by DaveN

I saw a bat on my local patch flying around the pool back in April. This was also mid afternoon and surprised me so I posted such on another forum. I got a response from Derbyshire Bat conservation group.

I'm sure some of this wouldn't be relevant to your bat but this is what he said.

Dave, its not that unusual at all. Bats are coming out of hibernation at the
moment and on mild sunny days it isnt uncommon to see some recently aroused bats
flying about trying to find some food after a long stint without. Ive heard
several reports of bats flying in the daytime recently.

Its is also not unusual to see Noctules flying early evening when it is still
quite light - I often watch them at Stubbing Pond flying high above the lake
with the Swifts. Some species of bat such a Noctule and Pipistrelle are more
tolerant of high light levels and so will emerge earlier in the evening to feed
if neccessary, whilst species such as Natterer's and Brown Long-eared tend to
emerge later, being less tolerant of light.

There is also the possibilty that bats seen flying in the middle of the day are
doing so due to the disturbance of their roost.

Thanks very much Dave, most helpful.