On Monday we counted 30 Noctules out of a roost at Stockgrove. Last night bat group member Toby tried out his latest bit of kit, an infra red light, and filmed them coming out. The infra red light means that he could film the bats without disturbing them (which bright light would do). The kit is quite elaborate and we met up with Toby in a nearby pub to check it over in the dry (It’s a hard life being a bat enthusiast)
Checking equipment Photo Jude Hirstwood
The rain was on our side and stopped just in time for Toby to set up the equipment. We could hear the Noctules as soon as we got near the tree, their calls were audible and sounded quite birdlike.
Photo Jude Hirstwood
Noctules are not without a sense of humour. Having set up the equipment, Toby nipped off to answer a call of nature , the bats saw this and sent six of them out while he was away. He was, however, able to catch another 21 on film.
We had a wonderful view of them exiting. The way they “bounce” out of the roost led us to speculate that they had a trampoline in there, which would , perhaps, explain the excited chirruping we heard earlier in the evening,
Once exiting the roost ,they swooped down from the roost hole , and flew about in the glade before flying off to feed. Toby is going to edit the film and, when he does, we will put a link on the website. Meanwhile Bob used the Griffin to record sounds from the roost.
We waited here after they had left in case there were any early returns, which would indicate that they had young in the roost. The North Bucks group filmed another Noctule roost in Milton Keynes on Monday