LHI Project - Introduction to bats day

A large part of the Conserve Bats Conserve Heritage Project is the training of new members and gaining of new members. The bat group already has an active recruitment system, so the aims of the project overlap with activities already being carried out. A few existing members had asked for training in order to find out more about bats and perhaps go for their licence or get involved in other areas of bat conservation work that the group is involved with.

The Introduction to Bats day was organised by Steve and Fiona Parker for the existing members and potential new members of the group. You can access relevant pictures by clicking on the links within the text.

Out of a number of people invited 16 booked a place on the course however only 12 turned up. The attendees were Gareth Harrison, Sonia Allen, Mike Fisher, Alan Higginson, Jo Bates, Val Butterworth, Clive Butterworth, Catriona Barker, Jennie Lord, Paul Robinson, Tabatha Boniface and Pat Waring. Four of these people were new members and five were not presently members of the group.

The day covered a number of aspects; basic bat ecology and identification, bats of the world, grounded and injured bats, a session to meet the bats including Egyptian Fruit bats (Rousettus Aegyptiacus), Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), Brown long eared (Plecotus Auritus) and dead specimens of Daubentons (Myotis daubentonii). Attendees also got the chance to look at bat related equipment and droppings during this session. After lunch we walked to see some of the work the group has been involved with at the Philips Park Nature Reserve (where the event was being held). First stop was a beech tree that has a large split in the main trunk, which the group will be investigating later in the year with a fibrescope to check for bat usage. We then moved on to one of the forcing tunnels that was identified as a roost late in 2003, for Brown long eared bats. Attendees were shown the roost position, structure of the roost including ivy covering the entrance and droppings and the piles of moth wings that allow us to identify the structure as a roost. We then looked at the Philips Park Hall under a raised window frame to show potential bat roosting positions in buildings and discussed some of the signs we could look for to identify the site as a roost. Continuing on we walked down to Kingfisher Lodge, and old millpond, on which we have used millpond survey technique, which is key to the Conserve Bats Conserve Heritage Project. We also looked at the importance of this lodge to Daubentons bat and briefly outlined the survey techniques.

Returning to the Barn, Stan Irwin gave a presentation on English Nature, their role in bat work and his role for English Nature, what a licence allows a person to do and what they would need to do as a licence holder. Martin Prescott then presented the LHI Conserve Bats Conserve Heritage Project detailing previous years results including 2003 and the forthcoming survey work. Following this Clare Sefton a group member who obtained her licence in 2003 gave a brief presentation on the work that she had done in order to obtain her licence.

Following the end of the session we discussed many matters with the attendees, including an evaluation form. Everyone enjoyed the day with most people rating it as very good. Overall there were very few comments on how to improve the day and we feel that its success is shown in the fact that everyone wishes to undertake further training and get involved in at least one area of bat conservation work.

Since the session four of those who were not members have now joined the group. All attendees expressed an interest in getting involved in Conserve Bats Conserve Heritage Project. Seven people have stated that they would like to train to become licensed bat wardens with a possible eighth person who may be interested subject to time commitments.

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