Peter Jones Wildlife blog

Myotis Bat identification problems Visited a known New Forest Maternity roost of one of the UK Bats I have never seen before.. Bechstein's Bat.. The roost location itself is not publicised, rightly so, but I thought I would try my luck in the approximate area. Didn't take long to find a small group of 4 to 5 Myotis bats circling round the edge of Oak woodland just above head height. Now the problems start as Myotis Bats are pretty much impossible to identify by Bat detector alone, all having a long straight (Frequency modulated) echolocation call.  The only clue I did get was of a decent sized bat, so ruling out the tiny Whiskered, Brandts and Alcatoes'. The behaviour was not typical of Daubenten's that spend their evenings hovercraft style above water, so I'm left with either Natterer's or Bechstein's. A typical Natterer's is on the left of the attached pic, my bats on the right.. and they look good for Bechstein's with a slower echolocation, and mo...

Arrived at new watchpoint just after Dawn. The usual Gulls commuting down the Test Valley, and a few Swifts over Fishlake. Sun was a bit of a pain this morning but this shouldn't be a problem in the Autumn mornings! Also, near the Sewage Works, the bat detector picked up Barbastelle, Noctule, Common Pipistrelle, and Soprano Pipistrelle amongst an annoying crescendo of insect chatter.  Elsewhere, the semi-rough horse paddocks near home were pretty good this morning with Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiff-Chaff, Whitethroat, half a dozen Linnets, and a Peregrine overhead. Amazing what a few weeds and out of control bushes can attract! #vismig   #bats   http://www.trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=1416

First bat of the year has just gone past the house while I was configuring the bat detector and PC.. A Noctule. #bats   https://soundcloud.com/pjnaturesounds/noctule-16mar2014?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=googleplus