How to i/d British bats (1 Viewer)

[Richard JSH]

Hi all.

Deep joy! Our bats are back. After an absence of two years, I have noticed the return of bats to our street. We live in a small town in a small street; twenty two houses in a cul-de sac raised perhaps 10m above the surrounding area. Although we have a few fields close by, I would still say our area is suburban.

I have no idea what species of bat we are co-habiting with and would love to find out how to i/d the little rascals. We do not know where they are roosting and have never seen them land. There are some small conifers in the back gardens but nothing much else. The bats come out at dusk and wheel about, in between the houses, staying about 3m to 10m from ground level.

I know little to nothing about these beasts and wonder if anyone can advise me how to i/d them without causing them any disturbance.

Thanks in anticipation, Richard.

 

[edrick owl]

Hi Richard
Glad you are enjoying the bats coming back - I've just seen my first of the year round us on Monday night, around 2300, then again last night at 2037.
Best advice I can give is to log on to the Bat Conservation Trust's website where you will find a load of info which should answer all your questions.
Regards,
Edrickowl

 

[Jane Turner]

I have a simple system. The big ones are Noctules and the small ones are Pipistrelles. I guess I misidentify quite a lot in the middle!

 

[gyrfalcon]

I have a simple system. The big ones are Noctules and the small ones are Pipistrelles. I guess I misidentify quite a lot in the middle!

and if you add to that:
The ones gliding over still water like a hovercraft are Daubenton's, and

The ones that nearly take your head off, and keep swooping round inches away from you are Natterer's

Then you can identify about a quarter of UK species by their jizz alone!

 

[Jane Turner]

When I was a teenager I used to be able to hear Noctules... or more like feel them.

Oh and they fall out of the air periodically like the have been shot by the man on the grassy knoll.

 

[Farnboro John]

The other way of IDing Natterer's: they are the white-bellied medium size bat in the headlights in NW Scotland!

John

 

[JWN Andrewes]

As a rule of thumb, if you've got Bats, you've got Pipistrelles. You may have others too, but you can be pretty sure you've got Pips. That's feeding in gardens etc, at roost its a different matter, or in more specialized habitats. In addition to Daubenton's very low over water, in Wales or the West Country anything low over cow fields is worth checking for Horseshoes (a Bat detector will do that for you), and anything flitting in and out of foliage stands a chance of being Brown Long-eared. If you've got some good woodland nearby that might also increase the number of species you may get, but it's a safe bet that there'll be a stong Pipistrelle contingent.

James

 

[Apodemus]

If you contact the North or the South Lancashire bat group, you might just find that they have a member near you who could pop along one evening with a bat detector. There might not be anyone near who could spare an evening, but it's worth a shot.

 

[Richard JSH]

Thanks for all the advice, folks.

I'm going to spend more time watching the bats and trying to build up a fuller picture of their flight movements etc, then I'll have a go at fitting that to the various descriptions of the species. Hopefully, I'll be able to pin the i/d down. Thanks also for the various "batty" links. I'll be giving them some hammer as well. What with bats and the prospect of moth watching (new book for Christmas you see), I'll be busy this summer.

Kind regards, Richard.

 

[kittykat23uk]

I was out for a walk along the river Wensum by Hellesdon meadow and definitely saw two different types of bat. The first were very large and you could hear the clicks they made, I assume they were noctules- they came out just as the sun had gone below the horizon at about 21.15. They tended to fly quite high up.

The second lot were much smaller, I would say pipistrelle sized and came out a bit later as I was walking back home around 21.30. They flew a lot lower and darted between the trees, buzzing past me and also over the water. I'm not sure if these were pips, Daubentons or natterers. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[gyrfalcon]

Hello Kittykat,
First ones fit the bill for Noctule. If you see them well, they have a wedge shaped tail, and very powerful, direct flight, almost swift like.
Their calls are in the region of 18-22KHz, and a few people mainly youngsters, with decent hearing can detect them.

2nd bat is anyone's guess! Could be a Pipistrelle species, but Natterer's may also be a possibility, without a bat detector it is probably not possible to identify. (Natterer's have a habit of whizzing past extremely close, and are often seen over water at head height),

Sounds like plenty of activity in the area.

 

[DGRW]

I have a simple system. The big ones are Noctules and the small ones are Pipistrelles. I guess I misidentify quite a lot in the middle!

My knowledge of bats is woeful so I'll adopt Janes system from now on I think.

I could hear them until my late twenties but these days; not a hope.

I find their hunting habits to be frustratingly unpredictable.

I can go to the same spot on different evenings throughout the summer, apparently ideal hunting spots for them and yet on some nights they're simply not there whilst on other nights they're out in strength.

I know that insect availability is an obvious explanation but does anyone know how responsive or sensitive Bats might be to barometric pressure variations?

I ask because from personal observation I suspect that this may be a factor.

 

[Jane Turner]

I've since learned that its not safe to ID Notules on hearing them - Leisler's are in the same range - however the coming out with the Swifts, looking the same size as them and tumbling out of the sky as if shot by the man on the grassy knoll, remain good pointers.

I am now the proud owner of a bat detector and have managed to ID my Pipistrelles

 

[Stewart J.]

Yo Jane did you make up your own detector or purchase one and if the latter which one?

Stewart

 

[Jane Turner]

Ah ha - I responded to an advert on the BBC looking for volunteers to train to do Bat suveys on Wirral. They give you a detector a Pettersson D100, plus battery, headphones and training in how to ID bats, a survey protocol and an area to survey, in exchange for a £25 deposit. If you do 6 surveys you get the deposit back and keep the detector.

A fabulous deal I thought!

http://www.batsound.com/psondet.html#D100series

 

[bitterntwisted]

Ah ha - I responded to an advert on the BBC looking for volunteers to train to do Bat suveys on Wirral. They give you a detector a Pettersson D100, plus battery, headphones and training in how to ID bats, a survey protocol and an area to survey, in exchange for a £25 deposit. If you do 6 surveys you get the deposit back and keep the detector.

A fabulous deal I thought!

http://www.batsound.com/psondet.html#D100series

That's briliant! Was that the Wirral only? I'd definitely sign up for that round here.

 

[Jane Turner]

Yes it was - using a Eurowonga subsidy as far as I can tell - an acceptable payback for the common agricultural policy!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/6694853.stm

 

[gyrfalcon]

Have you been sent around England doing surveys Jane? as per the bbc. link.

 

[Jane Turner]

No that was wildly inaccurate - just around Wirral - in fact just around one 1km square of Wirral!

 

[HH75]

Hi Jane,

I've since learned that its not safe to ID Notules on hearing them - Leisler's are in the same range - however the coming out with the Swifts, looking the same size as them and tumbling out of the sky as if shot by the man on the grassy knoll, remain good pointers.

Not really... Here in Ireland, we have no Noctules, but I can point out the following:
1) I have heard bats from time to time over the years, most memorably one night on Cape Clear as it flew around the outside light of Ciaran Danny Mike's bar. This would presumably have been a Leisler's, if one accepts that only that and Noctule are audible to anyone?

2) I regularly see what I identify as Leisler's (without a bat detector, I can just presume these things), and they OFTEN come out before the Swifts have stopped feeding for the evening, and they OFTEN fly around with them also.

3) The 'falling out of the sky' bit reminds me of the sudden change of direction that I associate with Leisler's.

Harry