Bat box Checks

It was with a sinking heart that brave bat group members headed out to check the 53 bat boxes on a hot and humid Saturday. Carrying ladders and other kit through the wood was really hard work.

By the end of the search , two boxes each had a single bat in.

Find of the day was the last box checked before lunch which contained 29 bats – 13 mothers , 13 juveniles and three male bats. – and a lot of mites which were present in large numbers, particularly on the juveniles.

It is probably best to draw a veil over the behaviour of the very hungry bitey insects, but our intrepid surveyors have impressive scars

We weren’t able to get a photo of them in situ, but the picture below shows a rather cheery individual who consented to have its picture taken.

Photo Bob Cornes Brown long eared bat

 

 

This brings the number of bats boxes to show bat signs in 32 boxes since we started checking the boxes last September