Wildlife Circus

      Daubenton's bats   Earlier this week three of us went to an undisclosed location in Barnes to assess an area thought to be used by Daubenton's bats. The bats were heard chittering during a survey by two Project officers working for the Friends of Barnes Common. They withdrew until someone with the requisite license could join them. Nineteen bats were counted at three locations, including smaller fluffy individuals deemed to be juveniles. Judging by droppings and staining found elsewhere at the site, the nursery was slightly further to the south.  There are not many maternity colonies of this species known in the Greater London area and hopefully we can monitor this roost using thermal cameras and static bat detection equipment.  The location is naturally dark and we want to keep it that way by writing to the adjacent  landowners. Daubenton's bats require no/low levels of light to move along river corridors to foraging areas and alternative roos...

Waterworks meadow where I have had the pleasure of leading bat surveys this year.     Waterworks Meadow forms a key component of the Lee Valley Regional Park; the Waterworks Meadow site is approximately 8 hectares in size. It is not subject to any statutory or non-statutory nature conservation designations. It lies adjacent to part of the Lee Valley Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation (SMINC) including the River Lea, which bounds the site to the south-east and south-west. It is adjacent to - and not to be confused with - the Waterworks Nature Reserve, which forms part of a waterworks complex. The meadow used to be a pitch and putt golf course and then a brief spell as a centre for pony trekking. In an effort to find a profitable use for it the owners have been looking at various options. Earlier this year a licensing application was submitted to Waltham Forest Council for an 8,000 person 'Waterworks Festival' on the meadow.  The Save Lea Marshe...

Five species of bat were recorded from positions along the Portsmouth road Filter Beds last night: Noctules from 21.04 Soprano pipistrelle from 21.18 Common pipistrelle from 21.53 and Daubenton's bat from 22.05     Nathusius' pipistrelle passes were recorded by a surveyor positioned at the north end of the site and are not included in the plot. The majority of the pipistrelle passes were recorded at the northern end. The brown path indicates the movement of the surveyor and the bat symbols are automatically generated and georeferenced. That is: GIS or mapping software can 'place' the image in its appropriate real world location . So we can only detect bats that come within 20m of bat detection equipment and we cannot know what is happening in the areas closest to the river. As it grew darker and sand and house martins were replaced by bats, we also saw 2 Jersey tiger moths nectaring on buddleja.

Lake in the Country Park If I had been keeping my blog in 2004-08, I might have written about Hainault Forest, one of my favourite open spaces in the LB of Redbridge. But I wasn't, so I didn't, but will make up for it now that I am revisiting the sites that I surveyed >ten years ago, to see how they have changed. Hainault Forest is one of the remaining sections of the former Forest of Essex.  In a survey made for Henry V111 in 1544 its extent was some 3,000 acres. The forest land was condemned as a waste in 1851, and deforested; the deer were removed, and 92% of the old growth forest cut down. Hornbeam and beech are it's characteristic tree species including pollards of the former. The land became marginal agricultural land and subsequently a significant proportion has been built on. Redbridge manage the country park and the Essex side is managed by the Woodland Trust who are in the business of reforesting .   This link to the website - written by local natural...

  Photos Dr. D. Dawson.      London Bat Group was invited to take part in the National Nathusius Project in early 2016. Four 3-bank harp traps and lures were purchased in May 2016 and licences and training events were organised. Note the 'harp' strings Trapping surveys occur between May and end of October with a pause in surveys between mid-June and mid-Late July to avoid trapping heavily pregnant females or bats with suckling young. Surveys commence in late May 2016 through to early October.  Sites near water bodies are chosen as prime foraging habitat, where bats will travel to from offsite locations to spend a substantial part of the early evening. Several sites in Kingston, Richmond and Merton have been covered accruing some interesting data. Last night, five participants attended a harp trapping session at Wimbledon Park. Two traps were positioned at the lake at locations 150m apart, as part of the National Nathusius' pipistrelle project. ...