Image © Frank Greenaway / Sussex Wildlife Trust
Explore the nocturnal world of the bat.
The best way to discover more about bats is in the company of an expert
As dusk falls on a late summer’s evening, the swallows go to their roosts under the eaves and the swifts make one last screaming sortie over the rooftops before heading up high to dose the night away. The light thickens, the last robin sings his song, and then the bats come out.
Unseen and unnoticed by most of us, the countryside fills up with these nocturnal insectivores, fluttering out to feed for the night. Pipistrelles flit over the garden, brown long-eared bats swoop along the hedgerows, Daubenton’s bats skim over the river, noctules hawk high up above the canopy.
Bats find their way around by echolocation, using a series of very high pitched clicks and burps and listening out for the echoes that bounce off their surroundings and their prey. Although not audible to the human ear, we can use a special bat detector to listen to the echolocation calls of bats. Each species has its own characteristic pattern and frequency of calls. The pitter patter of a calling pipistrelle turns into a buzzing burp as it closes in on its moth meal, while a noctule shouts ‘chop chip chop chip’ as he swoops over the tree tops.
How to do it
The best way to discover more about bats is in the company of an expert. Check your Wildlife Trust's website for bat walks and other batty events, where you will be able to use a bat detector and learn more about their lives. International Bat Night takes place during the last weekend in August. Put up a bat box and give them a helping hand in your garden! The location is all important: nail it up on a sheltered sunny spot, high up under the eaves if it’s on a building and preferably away from outside lights. Buy one or make one. Take part in this year's bat-themed Wild About Gardens Week!
If you can’t get to the special places listed below… Although bats have declined in numbers they can still be found in towns and villages. At dusk, spend some time in the garden or go to your local park, and look up: you never know what you might see.
Special spots
Enjoy watching bats swooping at the cave entrances at Brown’s Folly whilst overlooking the lovely Bath skyline at dusk. Take a bat detector and listen out for the bizarre alien ‘space invader’ noises of the nationally threatened greater horseshoe bat, famous for its unusual leaf-shaped nose and large ears, just one of the species found here.
Angus, Montrose Basin
Cambridge, River Cam - join a special bat punt safari!
Channel Islands, Alderney
Derbyshire, Hilton Gravel Pits
Devon, Higher Kiln Quarry
Dorset, Brackett’s Coppice
Essex, Hanningfield Reservoir - hundreds of soprano pipistrelles roost in the centre and can be seen emerging on late summer evenings. Events are run to enjoy the spectacle.
Gwynedd, Gwaith Powdwr
Lancashire, Aughton Woods
Lanarkshire, Falls of Clyde
Yorkshire, Sprotbrough Flash
 Liam O'Hara CREDIT.jpg)
Long-eared bat © Liam O'Hara