Sandwell Valley Bat Detectives

Sandwell Valley Bat Detectives!!

I thought I should just check in to let you all know about a youth bat event we did the other week. A big part of my role is to get local young people out and enjoying local wildlife. As such I have arranged a series of events for local youth clubs to take part in. Two weeks ago we had a bat night and ‘after party’. Here is a short account of the evening.

Morgan Bowers a bat expert from ‘brum bats’ came along to talk to young people from the local youth group and a local scouts group about the bats that live in Sandwell valley. Morgan takes in rescued bats to rehabilitate them before releasing them back into the wild; she was kind enough to bring a bat in for us to look at. For most of the children this was the first bat they had ever seen; for me it was an absolute privilege to see their faces light up when Morgan carefully reached into the ‘bat basket’ and pulled out the nocturnal delight.

There are 18 species of bat in the UK, and this particular visitor was a serotine bat called ‘vlad’ (an exceptionally good name for a bat). After watching him chomp rather nosily on several mealworms we put him back in his basked and headed out, intrepid explorers equipped with bat detectors, we made our way to the marsh screen to see what species of bat might be flying around the reserve. This is a nice sheltered spot and we suspected that it would be visited by bats filling up on moths; the last of the summer’s bounty before the autumn really takes hold of the landscape, sending both the insects and bats to sleep for the winter.

Alas, it was not to be. 30 bat detectors held eagerly aloft by 30 young hands sadly detected very little at this first location. Despite the myriad of flying insects, the bats proved elusive, deciding to feast elsewhere that evening. As time went on, we were losing light fast, as a last attempt to glimpse our night time friends we made our way to the flood bank to see if we could catch sight of one flying around the river Tame. Just as we were about to give up, the unmistakable ‘tick tick tick’ on a couple of the bat detectors got the group buzzing again. There was a small Pippistrelle flying around. It really is amazing to see young people this excited about wildlife. Eyes wide open, straining against the impending darkness, desperate to catch a glimpse of the distinctive silhouette of a bat.

A few children saw it, but it was fleeting and then lost into the inky night sky. It was time to head back to the classroom for some hot chocolate and treats. Not a great deal of wildlife, but a huge success in my books, young people outdoors on a nature reserve and having fun (and not at home watching the telly)!

If you’re interested in bats I would encourage you to visit the ‘brumbats’ website and get involved,  http://brumbats.wordpress.com/

Nadia

Working in partnership to give nature a home