Acer Ecology’s team signed up to participate in the #30DaysWild campaign launched by The Wildlife Trusts.
The #30DaysWild campaign is about making nature part of our life by trying to do something “wild” every day throughout June 2015. As ecologists, we love being outdoors and have a genuine interest in wildlife conservation, and so we are very excited about taking part in the campaign. Even our non-ecologist team members committed to the cause and took the challenge! Kika, from our marketing team, decided to participate in her very first bat survey as part of the #30DaysWild campaign. See what she says about her experience.
My bat survey experience
When we first signed up for #30DaysWild, I kept thinking what my big challenge for the campaign could be. The answer was quite easy since Acer Ecology’s team is full of bat enthusiasts (or ‘batties’ as I secretly call them). So, they convinced me that a bat survey is something that I would want to experience. Maybe I should say at this point that I would be an enthusiastic spectator only and not actually conduct a survey. Bat surveys for consultancy purposes require trained and qualified professionals. require trained and qualified professionals. That meant that I got to watch the bats flying around whereas everybody else had to look at the building!
After I had my training on the health and safety procedure and on how to use the detectors (the on and off button of a detector can be quite tricky), we headed off to the site to find some bats.
Bat surveys can take place either at dusk or dawn. I chose to participate in a dusk one. We arrived at site ¾ of an hour before dusk in order to set up everything and get ready. After we took our places around the building in question, we needed to wait quietly.
So, we waited…and waited….and waited…
…when something cracked the silence… it was a wonderful pipistrelle call. My first bat call! But I still could not see any sign of bats. Soon after, they came… flying around our heads putting up a show for us to watch. My detector did not stop!
In the meantime, my supervisor Lis was informing me of the species that I was listening to. Different species of bats come out at different times as I found out. We identified common and soprano pipistrelles and noctule bats. I also learned to recognise the sound that bats make when having their meal – called a feeding buzz (I have to thank my colleagues Suze and Lis for their uncanny impressions of that). After almost two hours my detector went silent. It was time for us to go.
I am glad that my colleagues convinced me to take part in a survey. It truly was a unique experience.
Top tip
“When you hear your first call on your detector and you get excited, try to do so quietly, apparently being quiet is important during surveys … or you might miss the next bat!”
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Interested in bats? Learn more on British Bat ID, or Bat Diary: Find Out What Bats are Doing Throughout the Year
Bat Survey Information Bat Projects I Need a Bat Survey
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