Dave A
@batworker
Bat ecologist working in the North of England. Ex Museum Curator. Researching use of caves, mines and lime kilns by bats in the Forest of Bowland and Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Autumn swarming has started. After weeks of only Natterer’s 🦇 present, this week sees the arrival of Brandt’s and Brown Long eared bats.
There’s been an influx of aestivating Peacock (Aglais io) butterflies over the last two weeks. Count has gone from 30 to 125. Interesting that there are plenty of pairs together… #lepidoptera #butterflies
A lot of wing stretching going on with these young of year Natterer’s bats 🦇 Some needed quite a bit of encouragement to fly. Might be a couple of weeks yet before we see them at our swarming site… #bats #chiroptera #research
Sometimes that first flight doesn’t go as expected. Lovely young female Natterer’s bat 🦇 in for rehydration and some food before we reunite her with her colony.
We’re using a ZEISS Secacam to monitor a Noctule 🦇 roost remotely. Great to know the bats are in the roost before setting off on a 1.5 hour drive to carry out a survey.
Possibly Samsoniella scoliopterygis fungus on Herald Moth. A first record while on the hunt for evidence of Lesser Horseshoe bats 🦇 in a Lancashire cave.
Great to receive some funding to allow us to resume the search for the most northerly UK Lesser Horseshoe bats. We’ll be back in Bowland cave and woodland monitoring to see if we can track them down and locate roosts. #bats #chiroptera #conservation #research #ecology
Clearly still a lot to learn about how and why different bat 🦇species approach swarming and hibernation. Last visit of the “winter” season to this particular site, but we’ve clear objectives for where research is headed.
Brandt’s bats 🦇 now on their 37th consecutive week in hibernation. It’s going to be interesting to see just when they eventually emerge. #bats #chiroptera #conservation #ecology
Still plenty of hibernating Brandt’s bats 🦇 above the 500m contour in the Yorkshire Dales. Very little movement so far… #bats #chiroptera #research #conservation #ecology
Emergence survey season starts next week, but we’ve still got Brandt’s bats 🦇 in deep torpor in their hibernation sites. #bats #chiroptera #hibernation
Has bat detecting ever been more accessible? PippyG static 🦇 detector placed in a hedge and picking up nice clean Lesser and Greater Horseshoe bats, alongside Pipistrelles and Barbastelle. All for £60! Thanks to @ramoneskaraoke.bsky.social
Arrived early for the @batconservation.bsky.social SW 🦇 Conference. PippyG left on the front of the van last night. Greater Horseshoe and Barbastelle bats using the hedgerow of the campsite is a nice bonus.
Thought we’d be carrying out our last hibernation survey of the season today, but the Brandt’s are still in torpor. Tonight we’re surveying for spring swarming Brown Long Eared and Natterer’s bats🦇 down at valley level.
Honestly thought this Daubenton’s bat wouldn’t survive the winter with such a pronounced abcess/growth on its muzzle. Last recorded present in this crevice on 03/10/25, it’s just arrived back.
The more data we collect on Natterer’s and Daubenton’s bat use of this 🦇swarming site, the better the fit to @berlinbatlab.bsky.social work on Greater Mouse Eared bat mating strategy.
Winter isn’t over yet above the 500m contour. All change at the valley floor though with an influx of Natterer’s bats 🦇
Working through the bat 🦇 recordings from Singapore. There’s some lovely examples of social calling
And on the last day I finally managed to find a Lesser Mouse Deer, after missing the Greater Mouse Deer on Pulau Ubin
Thanks to @marcuschua.bsky.social for taking time to show me the bat collections at Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. A good counter to nights spent recording bat calls. Now it’s time to sit down, fire up the laptop, and work out what 🦇 species I recorded.
If there was a competition for best bat 🦇 house, this would get my nomination. Home to Lesser False Vampire bats…
The Zouk Family Clan of Smooth Coated Otters alongside the Singapore River, surrounded by housing. Staff present to make sure the Otters aren’t disturbed, and temporary fencing to keep the public a safe distance away. There’s a lot the UK could learn about integrating wildlife into urban settings.
Five minute walk from the hotel. Fairly sure I’ve recorded Large Footed Myotis, Asian House bat, Pouched Tomb bat, plus a few more 🦇 so far. Need to get some laptop time for some serious ID work.
A fruitless search for Bamboo bats, but the bird life and reptiles made up for it.
Crash course in echolocation ID of South East Asia bats 🦇 First night in Singapore went well. Today is all about tracking down some Bamboo bats.
Last winter 🦇 check for a while. Good numbers of hibernating Brandt’s bats recorded above the 500m contour.