Dale is an active member of the Dorset Bat Group. The group is made up of volunteers with a shared passion – we all love bats! Our role is one of helping to record and protect the bats of Dorset.  We do this by carrying out surveys, roost visits, and engaging with the public – in fact anything that will help raise awareness of the bats around us and the need for their protection. For more information, have a look at their website here.

Jon Crewe led a survey trip to the Isle of Portland yesterday evening to try and establish the presence and whereabouts of any Portland bats. After we split into teams and chose some areas to survey, most of us saw bats and/or recorded a range of bat calls, from at least two or three species. The recordings made are important because we can analyse the sound using special software, and have a very good chance of identifying the bat species concerned by the frequency, amplitude and ‘shape’ of the sound files.

A very encouraging start, particularly considering the windy conditions – bats can be reluctant to hunt in very windy weather as it makes the echo-location of their prey very difficult. I hope to be back regularly throughout the year to try to establish where they hang out, and to attempt to gauge the location of any roosts! If any reader has any experience of seeing bats on Portland, please contact me at dale@coastaltreecare.co.uk – I’d love to hear from you!