Bob explaining the theory behind bat detection
On Saturday Bob ran a bat detector training course for bat group members and some special guests at Priory Country Park. This was aimed at folk without a great deal of practical experience, thugh we had a couple of mor ecperienced people who wanted to know more about the theory.After a talk which explained that bats were not easy to identify, there was a break for CAKE.
This was followed with a practical indoor session using the acoustic lure to play ultrasound bat calls, which gave people a chance to work out it the bat was going tick tock or slap and where the peak frequency was. This was like the silent disco at Glastonbury in that every one used headphones and you could hear a pind rop if you weren’t wearing head phones
Then we headed out into the night. It had thundered earlier and we were concerned that we would not be able to get outdoors, but the weather held.
The bats were not as numerous as usual but it meant that generally they presented themselves one at a time, which gave everyone a good chance of putting their new fond skills into practice. The Noctules were very co-operative as where the common and soprano pipistrelles. The Daubenton’s were more flighty and didn’t hand around for long. We also has some brief visits from the Nathusius which lurk , but they were playing hard to get and flew away before most of the party could tune down.
It was good to be able to put faces to names and hopefully people will come out to other events to hone their skills further.
Thanks to to everyone who came and the Priory Rangers for letting us use the Visitor’s Centre