Wildlife Circus

Bats build up their fat reserves in autumn by foraging at locations where insect biomass is readily available in shed loads (such as at riparian sites, standing water, sewage works). They need to sustain themselves for torpor/hibernation over the winter months, when there is little or no food available. Insects generally do not fly (or are less available) when temperatures fall below 10 degrees centigrade (or during and after periods of heavy rain). Optimal winter  roosting conditions are the opposite of those sought in the summer. Bats require cold and humid conditions. They hibernate as singles. They are not seeking warmth, but require cold conditions as they do not want to wake up to no food  as this would be high cost to their limited energy budget. Bats are very vulnerable in torpor and can take >30mins to wake up and fly. Very little is known as to the whereabouts of our London hibernation sites: some bat species are known to migrate to European caves; or use gree...

Daubenton's roost distribution London Bat Group 2011. Knowledge of a roost location is usually kept ‘secret’. However, the Daubenton's maternity colony at Seething Wells has become widely known and why not, it is something we should celebrate. What hasn't been publicised is the rarity of Daubenton's colonies in London. The distribution map indicates known Daubenton's roosts within the London Region, recorded within the last 5 years. These are marked by the grey dots of which there are only 4.The black dots are the numbers of Daubenton's roosts known in the last ten years swelling the total to nine. The red dots indicate all the roosts we have ever known since we began recording. The blue dots equate to all flying records and the open water habitats where this bat is found. Daubenton's bats require very specific habitat requirements. Daubenton's bat Daubenton’s bats are closely associated with water and this species is known for its habit of...

  Barge Tunnel The barge tunnel has almost no protection as it is not attached to a listed building and was not considered worthy of spot listing during the English Heritage Inspection (although it was never visited due to lack of access).  The barge tunnel can only be entered cautiously by boat as there are a number of submerged hazards of the puncturing kind. At one time it was possible to alight the several steps from a boat and enter the site. A crane hoist still exists with the tunnel recesses and evidence of the iron plates which formed the crane base see Fig 5. For a detailed discussion on the transferring of materials from the Barge Tunnel to the Coal Stores refer to the work of Ron Howes (possibly Hampton Waterworks and its Railway System , by Ron Howes and Ann Grant (from Kew Bridge Steam Museum).