On a still, dry and mild evening after a week of windy and rainy nights a group of 19 gathered at Snailbeach Village Hall with hopes of seeing some bats!
The evening started off with an introduction at the village hall to walk leaders Ben and Julian as well as the handing out of bat detectors among the group. Heading up the hill to the main mine workings, the group paused on the ‘dressing floor’ to hear and introduction to bats and their ecology. Not long after our first bats made themselves known. The Locomotive Shed is known for its Lesser Horseshoe bat roost and did not disappoint. Several bats were ‘warming up’ flying around within the roost but also popping out for us to see every so often to check the conditions outside. As time went on, we saw several emerge and began getting our first Common and Soprano Pipistrelle activity.
After watching bats at the Locomotive Shed we moved further up Lordshill towards the former Reservoir and Perkins’ Beach shaft. At this point the group split, with half going with Ben to the reservoir edge and the other half with Julian to the mineshaft entrance. At the shaft entrance the group were treated to high levels of Lesser Horseshoe activity as the bats emerged from their day roosting. Common and Soprano Pipistrelles were also detected foraging in the area. At the waters edge it did not take long before the first Daubenton’s bats were seen. These are commonly named the ‘water bat’ and while known to be present at Snailbeach, they do not always make an appearance. Treated to watching the graceful hunting activity of Daubentons’ over the water the group were enthralled how close the bats were flying with up to three at once just a few feet in front of us at the waters edge.
The groups switched and activity continued, after another 20 minutes of watching activity began to reduce as bats moved further afield hunting for more food. At this point it was getting late, so the group began the journey back to the car park. On the way back a juvenile and adult female tawny owl were heard, with the female later seen swooping through the trees. With a small detour into the centre of the mine buildings, some final pipistrelle activity was detected.
Overall seven bat species were detected: Common Pipistrelle, Soprano Pipistrelle, Brown Long Eared, Lesser Horseshoe, Daubenton’s bat, noctule and another Myotis sp. A successful evenings survey with some excellent activity and behaviours seen – but now it was definitely time for bed! The group disbanded around 23:00 and headed for home, while the bats were still out foraging above our heads.
