Bats

On 6th May 2024, ecologists Charlie Gardiner and Daisy Huxter set up a static bat detector (Bat Logger) on the farm, in the hopes of gaining a better understanding of how bats are using the site and which species are present.

After Charlie analysed the data using a piece of software called BatExplorer, he found some interesting results. In just one night, there were a total of 437 passes of bats. Of these 437 passes, 122 of them were Daubenton's bat, 311 were common pipistrelle, 2 were noctule and 2 were serotine. 

The passes were fairly restricted to around 45 minutes after sunset and about one hour before sunrise. This could potentially indicate that a roost is nearby. The detector was placed next to some large mature oak trees on the southern boundary which had some good roosting features, including woodpecker holes, making it very likely that bats are roosting in these trees. 

The Daubenton’s bat is frequently associated with water so they are likely using the brook for feeding and commuting to the nearby nature reserves along the brook before returning to roost later on.

These findings are really insightful and we plan to complete even more bat surveys to get a better understanding of how the site as a whole is being used by these incredible flying mammals.