First Natterer's in bat boxes

   

Aidan processes a bat Photo Bob Cornes

Yesterday we did another check of the King’s Wood boxes and found rather more bats.

Juvenile Natterer’s Bat Photo Bob Cornes

The highlight of the day as finding our first Natterer’s  – a group of 6 juveniles, four males and two females in a box which has previously occupied first by pips and then by Brown long eared bats.

Photo Chantelle Kerr

Ticklish or smug to have escaped first time?  Photo Bob Cornes

Photo Chantelle Kerr

Another box had 36 Brown long eared in it – 36 in all 14 adult females, 12 of which were lactating) and 10 juvenile males and 7 juvenile females. Another four managed to sneak off when the box was opened. We found four more brown eared bats in nearby boxes  2 juvenile females and 2 adults which might have been these Houdinis. A lot of these juveniles were very young , in contrast with the Natterer’s who were late juveniles.

We also found a male Noctule in what is euphemistically called “full breeding condition”He was not an exhibitionist ( unlike some bat group members) and was not prepared to flash his genitals for the camera.

Photo Chantelle Kerr

We also found one male soprano pipistrele, similarly well endowed. Last year we found many pipistrelles and it is interesting that we have found so few this year.
With the delay in the renewal of Bob’s Licence, we were unable to get the rings we wanted  ( you have to have a current licence to ring bats) and so will have to delay ringing till nest time .

Bedfordshire Serotine Roost

The bat group were really sorry to learn that the owner of the serotine roost died last year.

 

Audrey loved hosting the bats and made us very welcome whenever we went round.

 

The serotine roost was used in a PhD research project which involved ringing the bats. We have been returning every year since to try to catch the bats and check the ring numbers.

Photo Hedj Dollman

Audrey was very clear that she wanted us to continue to monitor the roost and Tony went round to see the new occupants who did not realise they shared their house with bats. They were happy to let us check the roost. The bats were as sneaky as usual and of the 6 bats that emerged we only managed to catch two of them using our patent bat catcher- which Iain described last year as “A zimmer frame wearing a nappy”,

Photo Jude Hirstwood

One of the bats was  a female ringed three years ago and not caught since, she hadn’t had a baby this year and the other was  a male juvenile ( our first ever captured male). Numbers were lower this year but we know that serotine colonies use several roosts.

The householders have said we can go back next year and continue monitoring the roost – the only known serotine in Bedfordshire.

We are very happy to do this and honour Audrey’s request.

Noctule Mum Released

Way back in the winter we brought a very  underweight noctule into care.  She gave birth earlier this year and Simon has been caring for both of them. Mum got very podgy and was not keen to fly. So she was put through an intensive training course and her mealworm intake was reduced still further. Junior has still to get the hang of flying and is not that keen on exercise either, but he will see the light in time!

The Noctule prior to departure. Photo Jude Hirstwood

Yesterday we went back to the spot where the Noctule was found. We were a bit concerned when it began to rain early in the evening, but that cleared when we made our way out from the car. Simon and his family had got quite attached to the bat during her time in residence. Simon’s daughter insisted he dad give the bat a final cuddle before she was released. This was duly done.

Simon says goodbye to the Noctule

To begin with the bat was perfectly happy to stay nestled in his hand, but when he held her out to the elements her curiousity peaked. She crawled onto the edge of his glove and then stretched her wings. We held our breath and then she opened her wings fully and launched herself off into the night- too fast for me to get a photo We listened to her on a bat detector as we watched her fly away. She did several large circles, presumably orienting herself to her home environment and flew off strongly.

The moment of release Photo Jude Hirstwood

It was a wonderful moment to see her fly free. Bat care is time consuming and often the outcome is not successful but this makes up for everything.
Now Simon is going to concentrate on getting junior flight ready. Thanks to Simon for all his hard work.