Lorna Griffiths and Michael Walker from the group led a bat walk at Clumber Park on Saturday 23rd July which was well attended by both people and bats! After an introductory talk including lots of information about our EchoLocation Location project we ventured our into the park to find some bats. We began in the chapel grounds and after a short while we had brief views, and sounds, from several soprano pipistrelle and a distant noctule.
As it got darker we made our way to the waters edge where bat activity increased dramatically. It was still reasonable light and Daubenton’s bats could clearly be seen flying low over the lake without the need for a torch. As it got darker Daubenton’s numbers increased to a constant level and were joined by by common and soprano pipsitrelle bats flying just above head height. They were also joined by an extremely loud noctule bat which most of the group manged to see flying high in the darkening sky. Bat walks at Clumber are always rewarding and our thanks go to the staff at the National Trust for the invitation.