Recommendations for a torch for seeing bats (1 Viewer)

[pppppvvvv]

Looking for a torch that will pick up bats as they fly past.

Range not so critical, 50metres + for example.
But needs to be wide angle, really wide angle! Preferably with an option of a filter.

Good battery life, and I guess different brightness switch

Any suggestions?

 

[Richard D]

Looking for a torch that will pick up bats as they fly past.

Range not so critical, 50metres + for example.
But needs to be wide angle, really wide angle! Preferably with an option of a filter.

Good battery life, and I guess different brightness switch

Any suggestions?

The wider the beam the more powerful the torch will need to be, so the shorter the battery life unless you go for a very big battery.

Most torches designed to take filters are throwers rather than spreaders - ie. have a long narrow beam designed to find people/animals in the dark. You can sometimes fit filters from other brands onto different torches though (they're just rubber pushon caps holding appropriate glass).

What sort of budget and how compact/heavy?

For wildlife I normally use a thrower - https://www.torchdirect.co.uk/olight-torches/olight-warrior-x-turbo-rechargeable-led-torch.html which takes easily available filters but the beam is narrow. For a wide beamed torch my main one is https://www.olightstore.uk/seeker-3-pro-4200-lumens-powerful-led-torch.html , but whereas I have a filter for the thrower I've not found a great fit for this one.

 

[pppppvvvv]

Cheers Richard, that's useful.
I'm out with a cheap green LED torch this Evening, which seems to light up a much wider area... But no bats within range so far!

 

[Richard D]

Cheers Richard, that's useful.
I'm out with a cheap green LED torch this Evening, which seems to light up a much wider area... But no bats within range so far!

If you're not worried about a filter you can torches that will light up silly areas (think half a football pitch), but the very high power wide beam ones don't tend to take filters due to heat problems.

A cheap option is a custom built filter: Flashlight Filter Red Green Fits Olight M2R Pro 26.9MM | Etsy UK

On the discontinued M2R pro - not that wide a beam, but might be wide enough :Olight M2R Warrior Limited Edition Ocean Camouflage 1800 Lumens Tactical Torch | eBay

 

[wllmspd]

Bats are very sensitive to lights, so it’s likely they’ll be put off by having bright lights shone around. Filtering red would make it less intrusive, but then less efficient for you to see them. Most bat studies use bat detectors, there are ones that can autoID too, something you could never get from watching things flicker about. I enjoy watching bats silhouetted against the sky as the evening gets dark. If you really want to see bats naturally at night then your best solution is a thermal camera, which are getting cheaper all the time. You’d need one with a reasonable number of pixels and a decent frame rate as bats move rapidly. You won’t see more than bright blobs flitting about, but you’ll see how many there are and the different flight patterns they exhibit as well (and their reflection in any lake surface). Very cool to watch.

Peter

 

[pppppvvvv]

Bats are very sensitive to lights, so it’s likely they’ll be put off by having bright lights shone around. Filtering red would make it less intrusive, but then less efficient for you to see them. Most bat studies use bat detectors, there are ones that can autoID too, something you could never get from watching things flicker about. I enjoy watching bats silhouetted against the sky as the evening gets dark. If you really want to see bats naturally at night then your best solution is a thermal camera, which are getting cheaper all the time. You’d need one with a reasonable number of pixels and a decent frame rate as bats move rapidly. You won’t see more than bright blobs flitting about, but you’ll see how many there are and the different flight patterns they exhibit as well (and their reflection in any lake surface). Very cool to watch.

Peter

Hi,
Yes i've had numerous bat detectors in my time. The auto ID features of the accompanying software can be very hit and miss.
This is mainly because 1 species going over open territory can sound identical to another on a feeding buzz, or in a dense environment.
I do my analysis manually, and it works well, although time consuming.

What I do need, however, is to see what the bats are doing when I record their echolocation, thus this thread.

Thermal imaging is ok, but are such a narrow field of view, that the bats need to be some distance away to view them properly, and typically are then out of range for the bat detector!

So definitely a colour filter, and definitely a wide angle torch beam. The range only needs to be 30m - 50m. All I'm looking for is an idea of size, where they are, and their behaviour.

The cheap green LED torch was ok, I certainly saw the majority of the Pipistrelles I recorded, and it works fine for Daubentens surveys. (Daubentens move hovercraft like over calm water, so only 2 dimensions to worry about!. Thermal works good for them also)
I have a fenix tk32 to try next time out. The red led looks brighter and wider so may well be the best of what I have.
Failing that, the "seeker" mentioned above would be worth a try, but perhaps the cost is a bit much. We'll see.

Trying to make sense of what's going on, in darkness, with a multitude of clicks and buzzes going off in your headphones, and bats whizzing past at high speeds with amazing manoeuvres. I obviously enjoy it as a hobby/challenge! But I just need to improve the odds slightly.

 

[Farnboro John]

Hi,
Yes i've had numerous bat detectors in my time. The auto ID features of the accompanying software can be very hit and miss.
This is mainly because 1 species going over open territory can sound identical to another on a feeding buzz, or in a dense environment.
I do my analysis manually, and it works well, although time consuming.

What I do need, however, is to see what the bats are doing when I record their echolocation, thus this thread.

Thermal imaging is ok, but are such a narrow field of view, that the bats need to be some distance away to view them properly, and typically are then out of range for the bat detector!

So definitely a colour filter, and definitely a wide angle torch beam. The range only needs to be 30m - 50m. All I'm looking for is an idea of size, where they are, and their behaviour.

The cheap green LED torch was ok, I certainly saw the majority of the Pipistrelles I recorded, and it works fine for Daubentens surveys. (Daubentens move hovercraft like over calm water, so only 2 dimensions to worry about!. Thermal works good for them also)
I have a fenix tk32 to try next time out. The red led looks brighter and wider so may well be the best of what I have.
Failing that, the "seeker" mentioned above would be worth a try, but perhaps the cost is a bit much. We'll see.

Trying to make sense of what's going on, in darkness, with a multitude of clicks and buzzes going off in your headphones, and bats whizzing past at high speeds with amazing manoeuvres. I obviously enjoy it as a hobby/challenge! But I just need to improve the odds slightly.

I use a Fenix TK32 on the higher red setting to support autofocus of foxes at night without upsetting them (they can actually see it but it doesn't bother them - white light does). I've used it for Daubs along the Basingstoke Canal. They definitely see it and aren't hugely keen on it but it does give you a view for a while till they go and hunt on another stretch. Bats don't like white light except on their own terms e.g. hunting insects round street lights. In my experience if they perceive a light beam following them they will usually leave.

John

 

[pppppvvvv]

I use a Fenix TK32 on the higher red setting to support autofocus of foxes at night without upsetting them (they can actually see it but it doesn't bother them - white light does). I've used it for Daubs along the Basingstoke Canal. They definitely see it and aren't hugely keen on it but it does give you a view for a while till they go and hunt on another stretch. Bats don't like white light except on their own terms e.g. hunting insects round street lights. In my experience if they perceive a light beam following them they will usually leave.

John

The problem I have, apart from Daubenten's(!), is I can't see anything with the red beam.
The stronger green works better for me, I get on well with that..
My other issue was Bluetooth headphones, despite their convenience had at least a 1 second delay from the bat to the headphones (via ultrasonic mic and Android tablet). Surprising how far a bat can move in a single second!