Last week the 16-week trainees dived into the fascinating world of bat detecting using static bat detectors, equipment that can be left out in the wild to record the sound of bats over days and weeks. A detector was placed out in the centre of Home Farm Rewilding between 8th & 10th of June with the analysis revealed at least eight of the UK’s seventeen resident species!
We were reassured to see lesser horseshoe, greater horseshoe bats among the data, with the South Hams being such an important national stronghold for these species. We were also delighted to see the nationally rare barbastelle bat among the recordings, a creature that we pick up only intermittently on our surveys and bat walks.
Greater horseshoe bat. Credit : Rudmer Zwerver
The data offered some intrigue too! Although it’s likely that we are just dealing with a common pipistrelle with a particularly deep voice, there’s an outside chance that we might have picked up a new species, Nathusius’ pipistrelle, yet another nationally rare bat! Hold the headlines though, jury is very much out until we get more conclusive data and expert input!
- Mike Cooke
