Bat Walk, August 6th 2022
We met Ella from the Essex Bat Group who brought some bats with her that she was caring for, having been found injured and unable to fly properly. We saw two tiny Soprano Pipistrelles but the Common Pipistrelle she had unfortunately remained in hiding. Ella explained what bats we were likely to see and their habits and lifestyle before we set off with the bat detectors into the Park. We picked up several Common Pipistrelles along the hedges, and near the bridge Ella identified two Soprano Pipistrelles, the only ones of the night. A few more bats were detected along the way to the lake but when we eventually got to the lake, the detectors went mad with bats everywhere feeding over and around the lake. However, the feeding frenzy did not last long, and after around 15/20 minutes the bats had had their fill and moved off. After this we only picked up odd individual bats - all of which seemed to be Common Pipistrelles. Moving from the lake back to the main gates, we picked up a few more bats, but the big numbers had moved on. A very interesting and enjoyable night and it was nice to realise that the Park is home to lots of bats - far more than we realised.Many thanks to Ella for coming out on a Saturday night and hopefully this is something we can do again in the future.
Some of the participants in the Bat Walk, 6th August 2022
Summary of sightings: Bats, 2 species:
For further information about bats, bat conservation, and related topics, please see the Essex Bat Group website.
Marttin Singleton