In September 2009 I joined the Wiltshire Bat Group on a bat box check organised through the PTES. I enjoyed the day so much that I returned the following year, this time with my nephew Christopher in tow.

We met the group mid-morning in Savernake Forest and it was nice to see several familiar faces from the mammal watching fraternity. Steve Laurence and his team of bat volunteers were also in attendance and before long we were looking at our first bats of the day.

A Common Buzzard flew over our heads as we all gathered round a Soprano Pipistrelle that had been taken from one of the boxes around the car park. As always, Steve did an excellent job of explaining the identification characteristics of the bat, allowing us all to view the tiny creature close up.

After recording two more Sopranos, we moved to another area of the forest where we checked a number of bat boxes with little luck. Although the sun was out, the temperature was unseasonably low and this may have had some effect on bat behaviour.

We finally struck gold finding no less than thirteen Brown Long-eared Bats huddled up together in one box. While the bat volunteers patiently processed each individual creature, we were treated to countless photo opportunities.

A couple of Natterer’s Bats were found later in the afternoon providing some contrast to the pipistrelles and long-eared. It’s always a great pleasure seeing relatively common bats close up in the hand.

We ended the day session at an ancient tree that is a known Barbastelle roost. Unfortunately this species was not home, but we did score a single Common Pipistrelle along with three Soprano Pipistrelles.

The photo below is of both species in the hand. The Common Pipistrelle is the bat on the right.

After fish n’ chips in Marlborough, we met the rest of the group at railway tunnel on the edge of town. A huge mist net, together with a harp trap, had already been erected by Steve and his team.

The tunnel is a winter roost site for at least seven bat species, with numbers peaking at over one thousand individuals in the cold winter of 2008/09. This globally important site is protected by walls and grilles, but is still subject on mindless vandalism on occasions.

In autumn the bats often gather at the roost site in large numbers – a process known as swarming. Our aim was to capture some of these bats in order to gain valuable data on their behaviour.

Bat numbers seemed lower than the previous year, although it was possibly a case of quality over quantity. While we failed to catch a much wanted Barbastelle or Bechstein’s, a small Myotis caused some excitement. It turned out to be a Whiskered Bat, providing me with my first close up view of this splendid creature.

A Daubenton’s Bat (below) increased our species list to six, while Natterer’s and Brown Long-eared Bats made up the rest of the captures.

Around 10.30pm a very tired Christopher could no longer stand on his feet despite claims to the contrary. Reluctantly, we headed to the car to find it covered with a layer of frost! With the heater on full blast we drove back to our hotel in Swindon after a fantastic day with the Wiltshire Bat Group.

A big thank you to Simon West for providing some of the photographs used in this report. I would also like to express my gratitude to Steve Laurence and his dedicated team for making Christopher and myself so welcome.