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Orchard bat survey results discussed at a meeting of the Bat Group Shirley Thompson of the Kent Bat Group joined us in the Community Room on 10th February, for a discussion about the results of last summer’s survey of bat activity in Lynsted’s Community Cherry Orchard. It was something of a ‘joint’ session: although organised by the Orchard Group, and using sonic detector boxes procured by the Group, most of the dozen volunteer ‘surveyors’ were Lynsted with Kingsdown Society members! And a few additional members joined in the discussion. Shirley was very pleased at the level of enthusiasm in the subject, and the effort put in by all. She explained that bat numbers in Britain had dropped in recent years (a point echoed by Lynsted residents). She said that remarkably little was known about the detailed behaviour of bats, and so our weekly ‘counts’ were a useful contribution. In summary, the findings were: the most common bat was the Pipistrelle (the bat boxes detected two species), but a larger species, probably the Noctule, was occasionally detected at the valley end of the Orchard. Activity/numbers flying were greater between May and September. This would coincide with the use of maternity roosts first by pregnant, and later by lactating females with young. This indicated the importance of the Orchard as a foraging area, at critical periods, for a roost nearby. There was more activity on warmer evenings. Surprisingly, there was no greater activity when the blossom was out or during fruiting – when more insects (the bats’ prey) would have been attracted. The Pipistrelles seemed to prefer flying in the gaps between the cherry trees, and were more often detected in the northern sectors of the Orchard. We intend to present the summarised data in a report in due course. There was much enthusiasm for doing more, and future work could include more definite species identification, tracking the direction of movement, surveying over a larger area, ‘bat watch evenings’ and locating the place where the bats roost during the day. Watch out for further information and plans! We could do with more volunteers, so please contact John Disney (phone 521 580), Julie Barrett (522 921) or me if you are interested in taking part. Bob Baxter, |