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We had a lovely, interesting walk along the canal at dusk yesterday, lead by Rhiannon Bevan from Water for Wildlife.  We are given bat detectors, tuned into a variety of ranges, and heard and saw three species of bats, listed below.   We learnt an awful lot from Rhiannon and hopefully she will be  leading some more walks in the future.

Daubenton’s bat

Known as the ‘water bat’, Daubenton’s bats fish insects from the water’s surface with their large feet or tail.

Common pipistrelle

Pipistrelles are the commonest British bats, weighing around 5 grams (less than a £1 coin).  A single pipistrelle can eat 3,000 tiny insects in just one night!

Soprano pipistrelle

Similar to common pipistrelle but distinguished by its higher frequency echolocation call.