BAT HIBERNATION
It has been said that there may be a reluctance at times to make
successful bat mitigation schemes generally available that give guidance to
others. This is understandable where large amounts of expertise, time and money
have been expended over many years.
The BCT “roost” web site is a potentially useful resource, but after
five attempts to upload the details of a successful hibernation, the software
has rejected me each time! Perhaps that is why few new submissions have taken
place, and the “roost award” offered by BCT, as of March each year is an
elusive one! See http://roost.bats.org.uk
A small group of us in East Anglia have something of a reputation for
being in the forefront of protecting and enhancing UK Myotis hibernation sites over many years, with my first bat grille
on a chalk cave site constructed back in 1968. This length of experience has
yielded some very worthwhile bat conservation rewards - even if no BCT awards!
It is, however, rare to get the opportunity to construct a worthwhile new,
large bat site from scratch without being development driven and, we suspect,
even rarer to get great results!
Just such an opportunity arose ten years ago on the Norfolk/Suffolk border
on Forestry Commission land where a measure of mitigation was felt to be
necessary to offset potential impacts on a small bat hibernation site adjacent
to the High Lodge Visitor Centre.
The left
view shows the foundations in place and the right picture is of the walls up to
roof height
 |
| A team inspection on progress 2004 |
Checking the tunnel and a Natterer’s in a bat brick
A paper in the Transactions of the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society, Volume
49 pages 1-9, was published today which reveals some, but not all, the secrets
of producing a successful bat hibernation site, and includes the monitoring
results for the first ten years.
Below is the interpretation board
Copies of the transactions are available via the Suffolk Biological
Records Centre in Ipswich, http://www.suffolkbrc.org.uk and a
preview is provided for a few days at:
John Goldsmith
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