Wildlife Circus

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.

    New developments around the Cambridge Road Estate have not only erased any pre-existing 'nature' but made it virtually impossible for any new colonisation, except perhaps by pigeons. There are borough policies to prevent this happening, but no one seems to know where to find them, yet alone understand them;  our officers seem too embarrassed to implement a 'no net loss of biodiversity' policy, let alone achieve the borough's aspiration of 'Net Gain'. When Natural England attempted to give our planning officers a lunchtime training session - which would have counted towards their continuing professional development (CPD) - no one actually turned up. Key: Ppip common pipistrelle Ppyg soprano pip.   This does not bode well for the redevelopment of the Cambridge Road Estate (CRE). The site is full of wildlife, demonstrated by the bird song in the early Spring mornings. Listen to these recordings on Soundcloud here: Sparrows of Willingham Way . Keep l...

What bat is that (photo, M. Wagstaffe).    Five bat species were caught at a Chessington location, during a harp-trapping session, convened by members of local Bat Groups as part of the National Nathusius' pipistrelle project.  This included several common and soprano pipistrelle bats; two Daubenton's bats; a brown long-eared bat and another that took observers a little time to identify.   By looking at the dentition under a magnifier it was possible to see which of the small Myotis bats matched  the cusps and protocones present or absent on the teeth. It turned out to be a whiskered bat; there are no recent records for this species in the borough. This is because the genus is difficult to record on bat detection equipment, emerging slightly later than pipistrelle bats and as a woodland specialist has specific habitat requirements. At a similar trapping session at Kempton Park, a whiskered bat was caught in the harp-trap which was a first f...

During spells of  wet weather in the summer bats can find it difficult to get out to feed. If this occurs over several evenings they can quickly lose condition.  This week it has started to rain at dusk, just at the time bats emerge to forage around local parks and gardens. This male common pipistrelle was found near to the Fishponds along the Ewell Road in Surbiton suffering from dehydration. Hopefully he will regain condition and pass his fitness test by the weekend to be released on his home patch.  If you find a grounded bat please put it in a box (with a few holes) and a small amount of water in a lid. Please use a glove (as per photo) to gently handle it. Then call the Bat Conservation Trust, 0345 1300 228, who will arrange for someone to come and collect it.

Twenty students and members of the public became Citizen Scientists at the University Sports Ground, Tolworth last night, in order to study the bats at the site. By splitting into two teams and locating ourselves at opposite ends of the site, we were able to discern  more about the local bat population than would a traditional linear bat walk.  For example, Team 1 situated near the site entrance, had the first bat a common pipistrelle recorded at sunset + 35 minutes. But Team 2 had to wait much longer for bat activity and had to return to the southern hedge boundary in order to find any activity. Unfortunately, heavy rain earlier had an affect on the temperature and insect activity, thereby reducing the about of prey available for bat foraging. Bat passes, including those of a soprano pipistrelle were limited to the boundary hedgerow and oak trees. However we were treated to the activity and calling of a pair of tawny owls.  One of the participants had some inte...

Barge tunnel entrance Last night the sky clouded over sufficiently to prevent the temperature descending too quickly, so we took a skiff along the River Thames to monitor the bat activity.  Unfortunately, there did not appear to be any Daubenton's bats using the Barge Tunnel roost and there was little other early bat activity along Barge Walk. However about fifty minutes after sunset the river came alive and as it grew dark several bats overflew the bank so we had superb views of foraging common and soprano pipistrelle bat. There was a brief pass of a Natterer's bat followed a few minutes later by a passing Daubenton's bat but no great activity until we got to the R. Mole where the bats detectors started going berserk! Nathusius' pipistrelle featured briefly but no 'big' bats (noctules or Leisler's bats) indicating their maternity roosts may not yet have formed. On the return we had limited foraging evidence of some  Myotis bat spe...

10 species of bat are now recorded at the the Filter Beds site and the adjacent river side. This is more than any site in the borough, with 5 the greatest number for a Kingston site (with the exception of Canbury Gardens and riverside). A Myotis bat with the call characteristics of a Brandt's bat, was recorded along the river wall during the developers surveys. This is the first ever record of this species for the borough. The ten bat species now recorded at the site are as follows: Pipistrelle bats: all 3 of the following pipistrelle species were recorded during the surveys by EDP (acting for Hydro Properties): Pipistrelle bats are found wherever there is connecting local green space and there are  some large soprano pipistrelle roosts in Surbiton. Early registrations of this species are  associated with the northernmost  Filter Bed, and  includes occasional use of the small pumping station at Seething Wells, which the consultants do not  accept ...

During the July Batty Boat Trip  twenty people watched Daubenton's bats emerging from their roost at the Filter Bed site. There doesn't seem to be so many bats this year and they are not in their usual hurry to emerge. Maybe the colony hasn't found the weather conditions so favourable or perhaps they have suffered due to the drainage of their foraging grounds. Studies carried out during the late 1990's and early 2000's found large numbers of Daubenton's bat spent a substantial amount of time foraging over the Filter Beds. For more on Daubenton's bat ecology see:  benton the bat Six species of bat were recorded  in all during the trip: common and soprano pipistrelle, Daubenton's and natterer's bat, noctule and Leisler's bat. 

Bats of Seething Wells additional articles regarding the Bats of Seething Wells   Kingston benefits from being encapsulated by RB Richmond and the river Thames. Kingston is 12% open space, whilst Richmond is 55% open space. The nature reserves in Kingston tend to be small linear parks along the rivers Hogsmill, Bonesgate and Tolworth brook. Woodland canopy cover is rare habitat in Kingston and tends to be restricted to Chessington and Kingston Vale. It is woodland that forms the primary habitat for many bat species all of which will usually spend some of their nights foraging near water. Bats require large areas of quality habitat, with strong linear features used for navigation and that are unaffected by light pollution. There are 17 bat species in the UK. Of these 10 are regularly recorded in the London Region, all of which are recorded in Richmond Borough (although two of these are only rarely found). Of the eight species recorded in Kingston: four are recorded regularly...