Bat detectors are available to borrow from Bradley Stoke Library and each detector now comes with a field guide and a leaflet on bat detecting in Bradley Stoke.
The leaflet was written by Gill Smith (committee member of the Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group) and John Morris (South Gloucestershire Council) and contains information on bats and a map showing the best places to find bats on the Three Brooks Local Nature Reserve. Of the 17 species of bat found in the UK, there are at least four that can be found on the reserve: common pipistrelle, soprano pipistrelle, Daubenton’s and noctule.
Pipistrelles are the smallest bat with a wingspan of just 18cm – 25cm and they emerge 20-30 minutes after sunset and are the bats you will see twisting and turning around buildings. The Daubenton’s bats emerge after 40 – 50 mins, they are larger with a wingspan of 24cm – 27.5cm and can be found skimming the surface of the lake, catching insects with their feet. With a wingspan of 33cm – 45cm, the noctule is the reserve’s largest bat, which emerges 5 – 10 minutes after sunset and tends to fly high overhead in straight lines.
Although the Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group (TBNCG) put on, for the public, several very popular free bat walks per year, they were aware that dates and times did not suit everyone or were unsuitable for organisations like the Scouts or Girls Guides to attend. They therefore came up with the idea of supplying guides and leaflets to the library, so that families and other groups can go out in their own time.
Photo: Bradley Stoke librarians with the new guides.
If you find an injured bat please don’t call the TBNCG, but instead the Bat Conservation Trust on 0845 130 22.
Photo: Participants of a ‘bat walk’ gather outside Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre in October 2013.