Bats in Beds Oct 2016 Volume 111

Newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Website www.bedsbatgroup.org.uk. E mail: [email protected] Facebook –The Bedfordshire Bat Group.
Whiskered Bat Photo Nicky Monsey.
Editor’s Bit/ Renewal details 2 A new Bat carer’s diary 11
Post referendum bats 2 The Houdini’ of Kings Wood 12 -13
Donations 3 The Peersonic Detector 14
The Wardown Museum Roost 4-5 Co-operating with Cambridgeshire 15
Orly Razgour and Barbastelles 6-7 Pear and ginger cake 16
Maintaining links with landowners 8 Derek Niemanns new book 17
Nathusius 9 Christmas presents 18
Leisler’s in care 10 Hibernation Survey 19
Social Call 20
shall keep on
Hirstwood
2
Bats in Beds The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2016 Vole 112
Editor’s Bit I realised re3cently that this is the
1oth anniversary of my taking o the
editorship of this newsletter .As I
write this once again the main bat
season is drawing to a close. After
the huge Bat Map Event last year, I
did wonder at the beginning of July,
what I was going to be able to write
about, as we had promised ourselves
a quiet summer. The devil finds
work for idle hands and we had a
really spectacular season, with some
very interesting new records There
were also a number of things we just
could not fit in this year which will
carry over to next year.
As usual it has left us with lots of
questions to follow up next season:
where have the Nathusius gone, why
are we suddenly finding whiskered.?
Where exactly did that grounded
Leisler’s come from? Why has Bob
become a barbastelle whisperer. ?
woodlands with laughter. I reckon
more than fifty of you came out this
season)
done a great job
all well and good, but what I would
like is...” Then get in touch we are
looking for new ideas and new
volunteers
rejoined ) the Bat Group since the last
issue and so do not need to renew
their sub
and Louise Burgess (Dunstable),
It’s time to renew It is that time of the year again folks.
Unless you joined after July 1st it is
time to shell out again. Please renew
promptly. If you do not renew by
Dec 10th, you will not receive the
January newsletter
covers the cost of producing and
distributing the newsletter and
covering other running costs (cake
and batteries mainly), but leaves us
little to spare, especially as stamps
have gone up in price again. We are
very grateful to those of you who
include a little extra something with
your sub) We have no intention of stopping the
paper copy, but more than half of
you now get the pdf
Can you let us know if you have
changed your address or your
mobile phone number, or your e mail
as Tony and I lack psychic powers
Thanks in advance to the goody
goodies who renew promptly and to
those who add an additional
donation
your name to the BACSs payment
and let Tony Aldhous know if you
renew this way, let him have the date
of the transfer and how much you
have paid us at
reduced to tearing his hair out.
Include me in the email as it will
endure that you get a copy – tell me
whether you want a hard copy or a
pdf. If you want an
acknowledgement of receipt then tell
Tony this. (We get statements
monthly, so there has to be a time
delay)- we cannot use on- line
banking as we have two signatories
for the account .
Bats post referendum
complex blend of legislation. UK law
protects them and so does EU law. At
present, all this legislation stands and
there has been no change to the legal
protection of bats and their roosts. When
the UK formally leaves the EU, European
legislation will no longer apply in the UK
(although this will depend to some extent
on the terms which may be negotiated for
a future relationship between the UK and
the EU). Most protection for bats will still
apply, though, because it is covered by
UK laws. However, changes and
adjustments to UK law have been made
over recent years in the context of
European legislation and it seems likely
that future changes will be made as UK
law becomes uncoupled from European
law. There is a risk that such changes
may, over the next few years, weaken the
legal protection for bats in the UK. As the
government works on the details of the
effects of leaving the EU, it is important
to keep bat conservation on the agenda.
The Bat Conservation Trust is calling for
the legal protection for bats to remain at
least as strong as at present. Partner Bat
Groups will be asked to play a part by
writing to local MPs about this, and the
Bat Group Committee has already agreed
in principle to do this by contacting the
six MPs whose constituencies include
parts of Bedfordshire - Bedford: Richard
Fuller (Conservative); Luton North:
Gavin Shuker (Labour); Mid
can only add strength to the campaign.
BCT is drafting some information on
which to base letters. When this is
available (which will be soon – possibly
before you receive this newsletter), we
can pass it on to members to use. Watch
the newsgroup for updates, or contact Jude for
information
3
Bats in Beds The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Oct 2016 Vol 112
Donations
how much trapping we are doing at
the moment and were thinking
about what we could do which could
involve members who did not want
to ravel often long distances to sit in
a midgy wood. This idle thought was
brought into sharp focus by other
events this season.
been remarkable in another way
We have had some very generous
donations.
the Limbury Mead Brownies when
they were at camp. This was a great
success and the Brown Owl from the
pack told us they were going to raise
some funds for us. Shortly after we
received a cheque for a £60. This
money will go to the Bat Care Fund
and Soggy has the very pleasant job
of deciding how to spend it.
Those of you on the newsgroup may
have seen another generous donation
from Stephen Mason.
His email said : “I'd like to make a donation of £100 to
the bat group. I am so impressed by the
way you all try to include everyone in
surveys and training, it really is
excellent.
towards something to do with surveying
or training (cakes!”
endorsement and decided to put
how to best spend the sum to the
October Committee Meeting
Bob Hook on his annual Wild Night
Out event at Stockgrove Park. It was
not a particularly good night for bats
but they were able to show the
participants and a brown long eared
bat.
was gobsmacked when Bob Hook
gave him an unexpected donation.
This time for a stonking £250.Bob
Hook explained that he uses he
money he earns from doing surveys
with Phil Irving to fund
Conservation e.g.. he uses it to go to
Malta to try and prevent the shooting
of migratory birds by the locals
He had decided that the Bat Group
did a lot locally and that he would
like to support us. He asked that his
donation be used to buy equipment
for the bat group.
be a busy one as we how to spend
these two not inconsiderable
money to encourage more members
to take an active part.
We have had a good time financially
from data searches so we have some
more money to the pot. We think we
may have a cunning plan.
I hope we will be able to say more in
the next newsletter. Watch this space
Consultants from Ecoserve, were having what they
described as an unexciting night’s trapping, This tedium
was enlivened by the presence of a mystery guest.
Thanks to Sue Raven for forwarding this to me from the
dormouse newsgroup and to Colleen Hope who gave me
permission to publish a copy of her photos in the
newsletter. All together now Squee!
Meet Kevin the Racoon who we met at Priory
4
Bats in Beds The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group October 2016 Vol 112
The Wardown Museum emergence survey
Previous bat work at Wardown Museum
It is some five years since Dick and
Geraldine last did their regular
surveys at Wardown Museum and
identified common and soprano
long eareds.
bat roost within the Museum’s loft
space has been known about for
several years and there have been
attempts to monitor this both by
emergence surveys and an in-loft
infrared camera. The bats played
hard to get and we never did capture
them on film.
do some follow up work. The
museum is in the process of being
renovated and Viv was keen to see if
we could discover if the roof space
was still being used by bats. It was
decided to carry out an emergence
survey. . Dick and Geraldine Hogg
and Danny Fellman joined in
Method (I am quoting the report here)
“We decided to perform a dusk emergence survey, which attempts to observe bats as they leave the roost. This approach is complicated with the museum building as it is large and has many interesting roof lines to monitor. We managed to position five observers around the building, but this was not really enough to see all facets of the roof lines. Our positioning of observers allowed us to cover three sides of the building, whilst providing an ability to keep everyone safe (line of site to next / previous observer). All observers had bat detectors and are experienced in their use. A variety of detectors were used, primarily heterodyne / frequency division, but
some full spectrum recorders were
present. Data analysis from
from their own type of detector).
The survey started just prior to
sunset and continued for 1 ½ hours.”
Aerial Photo (Google Earth)
annotated to show approximate
observer position in orange/yellow
Above is an aerial photograph
annotated to show the approximate
positions of the observers
(orange/yellow Squares) – these are
with sight lines at present due to the
hoarding around the site. As you
may see there is very little ability to
observe any bat exit to the east of the
building. The trees on that side also
make it difficult to see a clear
roofline, which would make the
visual detection of bats difficult. We
chose the locations of observers to
use the limited resources available to
gain the maximum amount of
information possible from the visit.
We managed to observe the exit of
two bats, one Pipistrelle species from
the gable end above the porch and a
Brown Long-eared was seen exiting
from the region with the two gabled
windows in the middle of the
building – this bat was recorded at
the same time by a detector record
from the observer in the direction the
bat flew on exit.
Image of Museum Building
exit points in Red.
occupied or not, are protected by
law. Danny and Viv produced a
report which was sent to Wardown
Museum. Danny pointed out the
legal position and that if any work
was to be done on the roof, a
professional survey was needed and
this could not be done by the Bat
Group.
5
Bats in Beds The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group October 2010 Volume 90
The Museum responded quickly to
the report and have arranged for
consultant to survey the roof more
thoroughly. (They also have Public
indemnity Insurance which we do
not have).
had overlooked the bats, so the
emergence survey was well worth
doing.
Danny who is experienced as a
professional bat surveyor for fine
tuning the report and including all
the legalise in the report that went to
the museum and annotating the
Google photo.
employed several bat group
dawn surveys to help them survey
the museum for more exit points
which as you can see from Danny
Fellman’s e mail they succeeded in
doing
information for the surveys done on
behalf of ‘The Environment Partnership’
at Wardown Museum LU2 7HA
(TL08822)
found (east side of building) Myotis
heard
hiding!
who helped make this possible
More class 2 success
licences. Chantal Holm and Alex
Cole have been enthusiastic members
of the bat group who as well as
getting their class two licences can
set up and dismantle harp traps,
which make them a real asset. The
two of them make a deadly
combination and their laughter can
be heard ringing through the wood.
A situation made even better when
Nicky Monsey is around. They have
also learnt to extract bats. Neither
harp trapping nor mist netting and
required for a class 2 licence. Chantal
Is a lecturer at the University of
Hertfordshire and is planning work
with her undergraduates She is
being a very active member of the
Herts and Middlesex group and is
currently very busy finding
Alex is a roller derby-er
Both are very valued members of the
group and have a wicked sense of
humour as well as being enthusiastic
cake eaters
101 Uses for a Dead Bat
No ?* Train bat search dogs Fiona Matthews uses bat for carcass
monitoring near wind turbines. Dogs
are selected for enthusiasm and
dogged determination, but they have
to be trained. For this reason for a
number of years Fiona has asked bat
workers to send deceased bats to her
to use when training the dogs and
has been kept well supplied
*(To be
supplied
6
Helping with academic research
Meet Orly Razgour
Climate change is a great concern at the moment as biologists try to predict
what will happen to our flora and fauna. This is especially for the rarer species
important for animals with a lower population density.
She now has post doc fellowship at the University of Southampton.” My
research sits at the interface between ecology, conservation and molecular
biology. My main research aims are to examine evolutionary and ecological
responses to global change, and to understand how environmental
heterogeneity at different spatial and temporal scales affects geographical
distribution, genetic composition and ecological interactions. I carry out
multidisciplinary research, combining novel genetic and genomic tools with
ecological research and spatial, ecological and mathematical modelling. My
research is applied in nature, aiming to provide the evidence base for
managing our environment and conserving biodiversity.”
Genes and gene expression. In a nutshell, genes are lengths of
DNA that code for a specific protein.
These are often enzymes which
control the characteristics of an
organism. This is done in bats by
taking a wing punch. These are tiny
circles of wing flesh, about the size of
the hole made by a paper punch,
which is taken avoiding blood
vessels. All the equipment used is
surface sterilised before and after
use. Back in the lab the complete
genome for the animal is sequenced.
However, carrying a particular gene
does not mean you will actually use
it. Melanin is a protein produced if
you are exposed to ultra violet light,
but if you never go where it is sunny
that gene is not activated and you
don’t get a tan This means that as
conditions change, the genes which
are turned on vary.
on? There is no point analysing the
DNA. Instead you look at RNA. This
is involved in the synthesis of
proteins. If the RNA for a given gene
is sequenced then that tells you
which genes are being expressed.
Needless to say this, this is incredibly
difficult to do even with modern
technology. The problem with RNA
is that it is very easily destroyed and
is masked by all the DNA in the cell.
One solution is to look at red blood
cells which have no nucleus and
therefore no DNA. Sounds easy but
isn’t. RNA breaks down very quickly
so the blood that is collected has to
be quickly frozen in liquid nitrogen.
Back in the lab the RNA is analysed,
telling the researcher which genes
are active. (NB This description is
very CSI - you know, the blood goes
into a machine and the results appear
in seconds and the blonde bimbo
with the perfect make up simpers)
This is a highly skilled job. Orly is a
very experienced researcher and
could sample both wings in
just a few seconds. The research Orly wanted to collect 5-13 bats take
blood (! % of their body weight) and
3mm wing biopsies from bats with a
wide but diffuse population. She
chose chance European bat Myotis
escalerai an Iberian endemic and the
barbastelle.
contacted us and said did we by any
chance have any barbs about out
7
person
the known maternity roosts are in a
small area and a number of the bat
group volunteered to help. We
originally planned three nights but
we caught enough bats on the first
two .We caught 76 bats over the two
nights, 13 of which were barbastelles.
An additional treat was bought to
the processing point by Chantal and
Nicky who approached with such
insouciance it was obvious this catch
was a goody – which is as – yet
another whiskered, the first we had
caught at Swineshead. We also
caught our first Daubenton’s at the
site.We set up four harp traps each
night 3 with lures and 6 or 7 nets and
were kept busy checking nets and
processing.
Southampton’s Ethics committee and
she had to get a Home Office Licence
and to be trained to a high level in
extracting blood, Her licence also
meant we couldn’t take photographs,
but I did get a chance to take a close
look
removed is very strictly controlled.
The bat is weighed and only a few
drops are taken (up to 1% of body
weight)
all the surfaces are sterilised while
the bat in its holding bag is warmed
up by being placed close to the chest
of a human hot water bottle.
Once it is warmed it is swathed in a
small piece of cotton cloth, so that it’s
completely covered. Orly takes the
blood from the leg and one at a time
a leg is gently removed (still firmly
attached to the bat) The leg is ever so
gently moved to encourage
to get few drops of blood which are
collected in a micropipette. Orly told
me that bats’ blood clots quickly. If
the bat produced no blood she went
onto the other leg. The blood is
quickly transferred into a small
Eppendorf tube which is then
plunged into liquid nitrogen. She is
using this to test for RNA which is
notoriously unstable, hence the
sampled the same way. On the night
I was there only one bat was not a
bleeder.
which she did this and the bat
seemed totally unphased. These
and we often finds bats in the wild
with small wing tears- and even
large one)s. These punches are again
stored in an Eppendorf tube but
these do not need freezing and are
just put n alcohol.
is returned to its bag and to a human
hot water bottle until it is warm and
moving about in the bag. It is then
set free and all the bats flew off
strongly into the night.
expecting a gruesome story as befits
the Halloween month you are so out
of luck- but I did publish this back in
October 2015
Something from the archival crypt.
101 uses for a dead bat No 32 To save souls It was once believed that damaged souls came back as bats, which might explain the following grotesque Christian ritual. Take a bat and let it bleed to death over a piece silk. Each drop of blood you count is one soul saved from hell
A request
If anyone is willing to write an article for the January 2017 newsletter (deadline Dec 12th) or if you don’t want to write something but are interested in a specific
areas, please feel free to get in touch.
Tee Hee No –one
whiskered
8
Cheers Kel Photo by Hedj Dollman
Kelly Robinson has been on the committee since it first formed. During that time she has
taken charge of the HOCP survey and the HOCP box project. She has also done
numerous.bat walks and talks and been a stalwart on stalls. She has gained a formidable
reputation as a reviver of very poorly bats
Those of you who know Kel and Hedj know just how busy they are, especially since joining
the Hemlock Morris, through which we have gained a lot of new members to the Facebook
page. Hedj and Kel recently took the Hemlock Morris for a very successful bat walk,
several of whom have joined the Facebook page, which now has just over 400 members
Maintaining contact with landowners
trapping surveys this year
sites surveyed several years
making a fresh contact
where things have changed.
Notable re-surveys this year
have included Castle Close
in Sharnbrook (owned by
Nathan Fall was particularly
our bat surveys. These links with
landowners help us to get
permission for surveys, to find out
about changes at the sites, and to
give advice and information when
landowners need it.
Cornes
with one interesting site –
As a military base, it suffers frequent
changes of personnel, and our
previous contacts there are long
gone. It was therefore very fortuitous
that the base contacted us earlier in
the year to ask for help with an
activities day with resident families
at Chicksands. We were able to help
and, at the same time, float the idea
of carrying out some more bat
surveys. After a lengthy delay
involving another change of
visit to discuss investigating bats at
Chicksands Priory and a possible
trapping session next year. The
Priory is a grade 1 listed building
dating from the 12th century and with
various stories of ghosts and
haunting. More importantly, it was
known to be a Brown Long-Eared
roost although this hasn’t been
confirmed in recent years. Based on
one brief bat sighting on the Bat
Group’s last visit in 2007, I think that
there is a possibility of Serotines
roosting there. We may have a
chance to investigate next year.
9
Nathusius Hunt This season has been a frustrating
one in our quest for Nathusius.
Despite hearing them at Priory and
at Lakeside, they have refused point
blank to come into our nets and
traps.
call from Danny Fellman during the
day. He and Nicky were checking the
boxes at Priory and they came across
a rather chunky bat with a first finger
to arm length ratio of . I wish I
had taken a picture of Bob’s face.
Then Danny casually mentioned
With barely controlled excitement,
visit, and had only just told us she
had ever seen a Nathusius. Moments
later Danny phoned back and said
the second bat was also a Nathusius
– that made a male and a female.
Nicky was delighted to extract he Nathusius’
from the box. Not just being gentlemanly
behaviour from Danny Fellman but also
because he could his hand into the box but
couldn’t get it out again holding bats because
his hands were to big Nathusius we had
found in a box and one of them This
was our first ever female. Pausing
only to get the rings we headed up to
the Park to meet our courting couple.
Lia postponed her departure rather
than miss out.
to have been found behind the bike
sheds, possibly up to No Good. The
male on the other hand seemed a
Jack the Lad and was much more
swaggering. (What me,
box and left in peace.
By the time
you read this
we will have
Hirstwood
10
More telephone excitement We had another excited call, this time
from Soggy Sabiniarz and once again
we hot footed it over to her place,
where Bob was able to her ID. It was
a Leisler’s, the first one we had ever
had in captivity.
that when Bob handled him (See
Jude’s photo opposite at the top)
Hayley from the Cambridgeshire had
brought over her Leisler’s to stay at
Soggy’s and had also come over Also
joining us in the bat cave where a
number of pips that Soggy was
exercising with the hope of releasing
them before bats go into hibernation.
“Our Leisler’s” was game for some
adventure and was showing visible
but noticeable improvement since his
previous flight and was completing
several lengths a time... Hayley’s bat
refused point blank to budge from
her hand, despite encouragement.
auntie”, but the bat was having none
of it The bat was however very good at
producing urine.
for flight practice and the Leisler’s
was playing nicely – see Dick’s
photos opposite
Next season we must try and check
out this site as Leisler’s are rarely
seen/heard in Beds
Latest update from Soggy “The female Leisler’s, is flying for a
maximum of 3 minute bursts,
followed by a couple minutes rest
and some low flying activity. The
maximum amount of time she has
spent flying/resting is 12minutes and
then she sits and rests for 20. I am
still convinced she has internal
injuries, hence the resting, but I will
make enquiries internal injuries,
enquiries.
although, I sat down one evening
mostly due to boredom and he flew
to the ground, several times My
belief is that because she kept him in
a flexarium which is approx 1m high
he was used to flying to the ground
from that height. He is regularly
jumping from my hand now and
when he has gained momentum I
will increase the height at which he is
let go.
Not convinced they will be leaving
before May 2017 !!!
Saturday night as the temperature
dropped suddenly. Not even one
flap out of the 5 !!! It is getting close
to the time when I won't be able to
release the female Leisler’s due to the
cooler evenings. Soggy Sabiniarz
11
The life of a bat carer Becky runs Talented Talons
and is an ex zoo keeper who
has a menagerie of creatures
she takes to school and
events. After coming out a
lot last year she joined the
bat care team this year and
is alive to tell the tale.
For a few weeks over the summer I
took over some of the bat care from
Soggy, whilst she enjoyed a well
earned trip away. Getting involved
with the care side of the bat group is
relatively easy and always well
appreciated! The best way to get
involved is join in on various surveys
and first, to build up some ‘field’
experience, if you haven’t already.
Once you have done this you can
attend a bat care course to start
covering all the skills you will need.
Of course, before you can handle the
bats you need a rabies vaccination.
This can be arranged through the
group to those committed to helping.
The groups carers are always on
hand with incredible advice, patience
and driving around to help! (Big
thanks to Aiden, Hedj & Kel for
supporting me!).
In my short stint I had a total of 8
bats pass through my care. Lots of
highs and lots of lows. Soggy gave
me Lois, Todd and Bryony the pips
to start with. I had to feed, water and
clean them out each day and exercise
them in a small flight pen (not a
patch on the polytunnel!). This was
to help them build up muscle and
practice short flights. Sounds easy
enough right? Well it involves lots of
poop, lots of time and squashing lots
of mealworms heads (sorry
them build up muscle and become
more active with each day. ‘Batman’
(original! Hehe!) also joined me from
Fallon for a bit of exercise! Hopefully
all 4 can soon be released; Batman is
certainly raring to go!
cat attacks. Three sadly had to be
euthanized and one died from
presumably internal injuries.
warm and cared for. Being a bat
carer is unfortunately not fun and
cuddles with teeny little batties and a
lot of the time, the injuries are too
severe to fix. Sadly domestic cats are
a big problem for our bats (and other
native wildlife!).
the 5 phonecalls was ‘Cranny’, who
was found hanging on a ceiling in an
office at Cranfield University. The
gentleman who found him caught
him up in a box and kindly dropped
him to my house once he finished
work to be ‘flight assessed’ before
releasing.
nice and he wanted it back, so I took
him through to the kitchen to move
Cranny into a more suitable tank. No
sooner had we entered the kitchen
Cranny decided to exit via one of the
convenient holes in the box (thank
goodness he didn’t pull this stunt
during his car journey to mine!)!
He then proceeded to show that fact
that he could fly just fine, by doing a
very impressive free flight bat
display around my kitchen!
skills have not gone rusty- I fetched
my child’s pond dipping net (usually
used for removing spiders from the
house!) and majestically caught him,
very calmly, on my first attempt! P.S.
Hedj & Kel found my pond dipping
net rather hilarious. They found it
even more hilarious that my dog
destroyed it just a few days later!
(You probably had to be there).
Anyhoo, back to the tale- I got to go
with Kel & Hedj that night to release
him at the University. Definitely the
rewarding upside of bat care,
although Cranny didn’t even look
back, let alone give me a ‘thank you
loop’ for my troubles! We have,
however gained some new members
to the bat group as a result!
Even in the sad cases of bat care, it
can still be turned into a positive.
Most of the time, the people who
have discovered a bat in need have
never seen one up close before. Even
when it ends in tragedy they have
gained an instant interest and
passion for our bats- I asked all of
them to join the group, so hopefully
we will have some new members
soon- and who knows, perhaps some
more carers!
BumbleBuzz- Fly free!
12
Bats in Beds The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group October 2016 Vol 112
The Houdini’s of Kings Wood
Bob stared the August bat check with
little hope of success as a year ago
when we he checked the boxes
during the Greater Stockgrove event,
nothing was found until the last bat
box was reached. Inside were 17
brown long eared bats.
eared in boxes, ten adult females in
the eastern group, one adult male in
the northern group and eleven
juveniles. The juvenile were well
developed and the openings in the
wing wrist joints were not very far
from being fused.
previously ringed (You can see at
least one in the photo) and the eleven
young bats were given a ring and
returned to the box to show off their
new bling.
were on form as he confidently
predicted that box 17 would contain
74 Noctules. In fact it contained a
single male Noctule. It should be
said that the male was a placid soul,
despite being in possession of
unfeasibly large testes and buccal
glands and put up no such fight.
But the real excitement came when a
box was found to contain five
females Noctules. Bob was delighted.
He had been concerned that we
caught no Noctules in Kings Wood at
Bat Map and had failed to find any in
previous recent box checks. He was
concerned that the Double Arches
wind turbine may have led to a
reduction in Noctule numbers. This
would seem to suggest that this is
not the case.
very vocal to boot. Processing was a
bit if a nightmare, Noctules can be
squirmy beasts when they put their
mind to but despite their
contortionist tendencies, Bob
females into posing for her photo.
As the likelihood of recapturing
these bats was slight, the decision
was made not to ring them
The bats were duly processed and
then came the final stage. The first
two bats like all others we caught
were returned to their box to stop
them flying away in daylight, we
stop up the boxes with a large piece
Who you calling feisty? I have
absolutely no intentions of
of my willy
13
of sponge. Usually this is enough.
But not with these feisty females.
Bob soon noticed that the stopper
(a piece of foam) was quivering.
He looked closely and found two
pairs of beady eyes peering at
them. Like a good hero of old,
with one bound they were free.
Fortunately James Aldridge had
They were duly returned to the box
and it was only a few seconds before
the sponge stopper began to quiver
again, and the two beady eyes
reappeared. This time Bob was ready
for them
time the bats were firmly but gently
encouraged to climb to the top of the
box before the rest of the bats were
returned. This had the desired effect
and all future thought of escape was
abandoned. After twenty minutes the
stopper was removed and by then
they were content to stay put.
All this excitement meant that only
35 boxes gore checked on the first
trip
What are Buccal Glands and why do they get so big?
At first glance it seems that the
Noctule has an infection of his gum.
But fear not, this is a healthy male in
what is euphemistically called full
breeding condition. The gland is
used to produce a secretion which
the male grooms himself with. This is
the equivalent of aftershave and is
thought to attract females.
of the females had also got swollen
buccals
How do bat workers age a bat by looking at its wings?
If you have been out on trapping
sessions you will know that
while the bat is being processed
we check its wing. As well as
measuring forearm weight, we
torch is shone though the underside
of the wing and it is not unusual to
see c cluster of people staring at it.
This is because what we are looking
for is not, as is usual with bats,
straightforward. The growth plates
(translucent) cartilaginous gap (or
clearly, but believe you me, it is not
that easy especially as the bat gets
older. Both photos are from a very
useful paper available as a pdf here:
Manual for assessment of
in European
Peersonic bat detector which costs
under £300 and records and time
stamps files and works in Tie
Expansion and Heterodyne. It does
what a lot of £1000+ detectors.
Conference Raffle Win For the first time ever Bon won something at the BCT conference. We now have a
piece of paper which entitles us to a free tag from Biotrack. Timely, as one of the
things e want to next year’s is to go back to that wood and trytofind where the Natterer’s roost Natterer’s are said not
to move very far from their roost. We shall see provided of course we catch them next season)
Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Bat Group snuggle up
Illustration Joan Childs
survey recently. We assured them it
would be a quiet night , Harp traps
were set up and we settled down for
what we hoped a chance to discuss
further our plans for intergroup co-
operation (and of course eat cake on
the pretence of celebrating Jonathan’s
forthcoming birthday) The bats knew
that and decided to play dirty. 28
bats later, including no fewer than 12
Natterer’s and a number of
pipistrelles which were really
grew ever later
Photo Jude Hirstwood.
plans. Rachel drove a weary
Jonathan home (He’s not as young as
he was).
and talks would be opened up to
both groups. Bob has agreed to do a
session on bat detectors and how to
uses them in the New Year. He has
done this workshop for the Jersey Bat
Group.
other indoor events the dates
for which have still to be
confirmed. These include a
character and a very
knowledgeable friend) on bat
given on the newsgroup
when dates are confirmed.
place at Brampton, which is
not a bad drive and has the
advantage of a very nice pub
which serves good food if you
have to come straight from
work.
the Cambridgeshire Bat Group, can I
remind you that now has a group
page on Facebook. Here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1
733641183520612/.
members to join in on events, and
unlike us, they catch NATHUSIUS!
Ampthill Park Bat Walk Training Course
For several
Halton) but even then people are
turned away
solution. Bob has offered to train
park staff and volunteers so that in
future they can lead the bat walks.
He is doing an indoor training
session for them on bats in the
Autumn and a practical session in
the spring.
unable to answer.
when we trapped there on Sunday
night ( Two of whom are
already members of the Bat
Group) Once again Colin
lug equipment long
distances. The volunteers
the bat cake eating in the dark
ceremony, which they also enjoyed.
A very successful night with a total
of 21 bats caught including
Daubenton’s after the volunteers left.
and a delighted Chantelle got to
process her first barbastelle and
Colin got lots of handling and release
experience.
the season) captures the sacred cake
ceremony. Gwen wishes to point out that her
little pinkie is sticking out cos she hurt her
finger and not because she is posh
Peersonic detector
the Peersonic bat detector.
has been very impressed by it.
Peter,the maker of the Peersonic
aims to produce inexpensive
more expensive detectors, but it
works just as well. You can’t
hear sounds from it unless you
use headphones as this cuts out
feedback which spoils the quality of
the sonograms which are excellent
(see screenshot below).
inexpensive but robust components
Conference, we attended his
workshop, where very impressed
pitch like the bigger manufacturers
.and the next thing we knew we had
bought one.
and we received ours within a day of
ordering
improvement and has already
calls. Now it can record thousands
He has also sourced some
weatherproof boxes if you want to
leave the detector out at night.
After Bob had made his first
recordings he found he had to open
each file separately to get the details
of time and date. He asked him if
there was a way round it, and was
told, by Peter Peersonic that he
would write a macro that would do
it – and as good as
his word he sent
the macro next day.
GPS but Peter is
hoping to ad one.
will upgrade
machines. He
Peterborough in case the
Nathusius which needed ringing.
Nathusius advertisement call and
were able to find the point it was
using to sing is heart out in the off
chance that a female came by. (As far
as we know he had no visitors.
You might want to put this on your
Christmas list
The Nathusius call, as you can see is very complex
16
The Cakes of Bedfordshire 1: The best cake Steve Coyne has ever eaten
Gwen Hitchcock with a mouth full of
cake suggested I put some of the
recipes for midnight feasts into the
newsletter. I feel a series of articles
coming on
favourite cake recipes. It’s one of Nigel
Slater’s. I don’t add icing as it is
beautifully moist without. It works well
with gluten free flour and I made a
rhubarb and ginger version with
Geraldine and Richard Hogg’s home
grown rhubarb
Source http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle
For the pears:
butter 30g and
For the cake:
self-raising flour 250g
salt a pinch
butter 125g
knobs
and leave to cook for 10 minutes
over a low to moderate heat, until
they are pale gold and translucent.
Towards the end of their cooking
time, add the spoonful of agave or
golden syrup. Remove from the
heat and set aside.
cake tin with baking parchment.
(Ed otherwise it really sticks)
Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4.
Sift the flour with the ground
ginger, mixed spice, cinnamon,
minute remove from the heat.
Break the eggs into a bowl,
add the milk and beat lightly
to combine. Pour the butter
and syrup mixture into the
flour and spices and stir
gently until no flour is
visible. Mix in the milk and
eggs. Fold in the cooked
pears and scrape the mixture into
the lined cake tin. The pears
should sink to the bottom. Slide
the cake into the oven and bake
for about 35-40 minutes, until it is
lightly puffed and spongy to the
touch. Leave to cool in the tin.
To make the icing, put the icing
sugar into a bowl, and then beat in
the lemon juice, either with a fork
or using a small hand whisk. Take
it steady, only using enough to
make an icing thick enough that it
takes a while to fall from the
spoon.
peel back the parchment. Cut the
cake into 16 equal pieces and
place them on a cooling rack set
over a tray. Trickle the icing over
the cakes, letting a little run down
the sides of each. When the icing
is almost set, add a slice of
crystallized ginger and a
poppy seeds.”
17
“A” should be for acorn, “B” for
buttercup and “C” for conker, not
attachment, blog and chat room,
according to a group of authors
including Margaret Atwood and
Andrew Motion who are
“profoundly alarmed” about the
with the natural world from the
Oxford Junior Dictionary, and
their replacement with words
“associated with the increasingly
interior, solitary childhoods of
Group Member Derek Neimann has
produced another book. At the time
of writing it is not yet published, (It
comes out in October) but I found
this description on the web
“Britain loves its woods. When the
Government proposed selling off
million people signed a petition in a
matter of weeks to declare their
opposition. We go dewy-eyed at the
thought of bluebells. We adore our
mighty oaks, wild cherries and limes.
There is mystique and reverence for
woods that have existed since
Domesday and before.
generation ago, we managed to
destroy half of our ancient
woodland? It’s said we cut down
more woods in less than 30 years
than during the previous 400.
It asks these telling questions, but
this is not an academic volume.
It’s mostly about people and
personalities. It tackles the issues,
politics and economics from a human
perspective, looking at motivations
know to be misguided decisions.
People were of their time and we
should not ridicule them with
hindsight.
book that ranges widely over ancient
woodland throughout Britain, is the
story of Derek’s local wood, one that
was all but cut down. One third of
Waresley Wood in Cambridgeshire
survives, rescued by determined
Derek’s explorations through
wood special.
woods from the trees. What is the
future for Britain’s woodlands? Can
we save them from diseases such as
ash dieback? Can we revitalise them
as economic assets, without trashing
what made them unique in the first
place?
wonderful woods are, on this page
are a few of Sarah’s photos taken in
Waresley Wood, illustrating its
mention of bats
As the season comes to and, it will be
time to sort out equipment and make
sure the database is completed for
2016. We try to put data in as we go
with trapping sessions and input the
regular survey data after the
surveyors’ meeting on the 3rd
October.
collecting data and d would be very
grateful if you could send it in as
soon as possible.
If you have a lot of data I can send
you a blank coy of the database to
put your records in or just e mail
them to me.
Christmas Present ideas
special day, for not only was it
midsummer’s day, but also Bobby
the Brown long-eared bat was born
.In the old farmhouse, a number of
mother bats were resting, huddled
together with their pups, hanging
downwards along the ridge beam in
the attic, with their long ears curled
backwards like rams’ horns.
mum’
adventure, from his birth in the old
attic to being outside for the first
time. Purchasing this book
10% of the net proceeds will be
donated to the Bat Conservation
Trust. £9.95 available on Amazon
Our American friends BatGoods
Find it at
$10
http://www.batgoods.com/category/
Creature Candy does a lovely bone
china mug bat mug for £14-00
http://www.creaturecandy.co.uk/kitc
hen/
notebooks, and do other animals
apart from bats, such as bees and
hedgehogs BCT gets 10% as a
donation, so what is not to like?
If you are feeling flash or you have
an admirer with more money than
sense then you could ask them to
buy you a Peersonic detector.At just
under £300 it does things a machine
costing well over £1000 can do.
Hibernation surveys The Bat Group will be carrying out
the usual three surveys of known
hibernation sites this winter, in
December, January and February.
booked separately. Saturdays are
more physically demanding and
require some experience of
hibernation surveys; Sundays are
anyone. That said, they involve some
walking and the sites themselves
present some obstacles – uneven
views of torpid bats, sometimes
jammed into a crevice but sometimes
clearly visible. Why do we do it? It
provides a way of keeping any eye
on numbers of some species of bat,
especially some species that are not
easy to see in summer – Natterer’s
Bats, Brown Long-Eared Bats and
Barbastelles. The data contribute to
the National Bat Monitoring
local picture of hibernating bats
Surveys are open to all members
(and, if space allows, members of
neighbouring bat groups), but there
are only four places available on each
survey. If you’d like to come, please
make a request to Bob by 15th
November, stating your previous
winter, with a priority of trying to
give all those interested one place.
Once you have a place, you’ll need to
make it a commitment because
surveys need a full quota of
volunteers to be successful. Contact
me if you have questions or if you
are unsure whether the surveys are
for you.
Bob Cornes
What to do in the “quiet” season? At a loss at what to do, here
are some suggestions
1. Use a ID Bat Key to brush up your
When Bob did his most recent trip to
Jersey he did a key to hep to identify
bats. I have put a copy on the
newsletter page of the
found at the moment in Britain.
(Though bear i mind that a Kulhl’s
pip has been identified n the south
coastPlease point out any errors to
Bob. ( no-ne has spotted one yet, but
that doesn’t mean there are none) 2 Read the Bat Map Report
In
of you came and helped and we
collected an awful lot of data. r
The report is now complete. If you
want to have a look at it, and haven’t
done so far and are at a loss at what
to do with your time it is lurking on
the website
website for anyone that is interested
3 Sort out your bat records See page 17 for details
20
Bats in Beds The newsletter of the Bedfordshire Bat Group Nov 2016 Volume 112
What’s On?
To keep up to date with events, follow what we do on
our Facebook page. Bedfordshire Bat Group. A list of
all this season’s regular events is in the website
calendar page on the Bedfordshire Bat Group website.
Other events such as some box checking and woodland
surveys will be organised at shorter notice. These will
appear on the newsgroup as dates are confirmed. Maps
are on the website and the newsgroup. If you haven’t
yet joined the newsgroup, e-mail Jude and she will
send you an invite. Shaded events are not open to non-
members.
Stop Press 1 The Isle of Wight’s bat hospital has a new bat in care. A
European Free tailed bat. Who would have thought?
A parti-coloured bat has also seen reported on the
south coast
Thank You None of the things you have read would be possible if
it weren’t for the support and enthusiasm of so many
of you, the trudgers through dark woods, those of you
that brave nettles and brambles, those who give their
time for weekend stalls, who help with talks, the
committee members who get so much done in
meetings, the survey leaders who organise the survey
and the data collected. The photographers amongst
you and the jokers who pass on cartoons and post
things on the Facebook page, those who pass on
information, analyse sonograms, the data search Team
and all the members that submit records (hint hint)
last but not least those marvellous souls, who not
only promise an article but also deliver it.
Thanks for this issue go to Nicky Monsey, Bob
Cornes, me, Danny Fellman, Viv Heys, Soggy
Sabiniarz, Hedj Dollman, Dick and Geraldine
Hogg, Beccy Shaw, Gwen Hitchcock, Peter
Peersonic, Derek Niemann,Sue Raven, Colleen
Hope
Stop Press 2 I was interrupted from proof reading this edition
by the arrival of a gat at the door. This was brought
o us by a kind woman who found the bat hanging
on a wall at Dunstable library. As the box was large
and well sealed I did not open it and Bob took it
over To Soggy when he had finished a walk in
Ampthill Park for a Watch Group. He returned from
Soggy’s with a big grin – it was a male barbastelle, He
appeared healthy and was perhaps exhausted form
chasing the girls. Sadly the bat died two days later
This is the second autumn when we have found a
barbastelle in Sept n Dunstable. Other things to
investigate next year
See the newsgroup
Membership/ Tony Aldhous
Jude Hirstwood
30 Park Street, Ampthill, Beds MK45 2LR Tel 01525 403951 [email protected] Mob:07951 072691
Records and Hibernation survey
10 Oct Surveyors' meeting 19.30
16 Oct HOCP box surveys 11.00
17 Oct Committee meeting 19.30
Nov Talk on the Nathusius Project by Daniel Hargreaves at Brampton,
date to be confirmed T5bvc
10th Dec Hibernation survey 9.00
11th Dec Hibernation survey 9.00
14th Jan Hibernation survey 9.00
15th Jan Hibernation survey 9.00
11th Feb Hibernation survey 9.00
12tt Feb Hibernation survey 9.00

Documents

Bats in Beds Oct 2016 Volume 111