Bat Survey

The subject of bats may give you shivers but they are an essential part of the wildlife not only on the course but for London. Over the last couple of weeks there have been bat boxes in some of the trees around the course ( see above). These are not bat boxes as we would know them. They are not areas for the bats to nest or are boxes full of feeding bats. These boxes hide a much more technical way of tracking bats in the wild. 

Inside each of the boxes spread around the course was a instrument to find out how many bats we have? and what different species we have? This bat survey or nocturnal survey was carried out by the London ecology team as they try to build a picture of bat life across London. 

This works by recording frequency at certain times of night and again at dawn. Different bat species all talk to each other at different frequency's and the machine can record all of them. Then after a few days they take away the machine and plug it into the computer and it will tell them how many bats were talking at each frequency. From this they can determine the numbers. 

I can tell you that there are 18 different bat species in the U.K. With six types being reported. They are :-

•Common pipistrelle

• Soprano pipistrelle

• Nathusius pipistrelle (rare)

• Daubenton's

• Natterer's 

• Noctule

And lastly, did you ever wonder why you see bats around your gardens during the summer evenings, while your sat outside with a cold drink? The answer is bats eat Moths & Moths are attracted to the lights in the houses. They are just popping round for dinner...

Just a quick blog about bats. 

Thanks 

Matt