I  found my joy of bats while at University on a summer job placement with the Forestry Commission. I was based at Alice Holt Reserac Station, and designed a study to examine bats in woodlands in relation to woodland structure and insect adundance. I had a lot of fun using a cross -bow to shoot lines up into the forest canopy to hoist insect sticky traps up. I discovered that all the local fisherman had bats hanging up in their umbrellas at night. I  drove a land rover and surveyed at night and dawn for bats. I was hooked!

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This experience got me a role as a research assistant at University of Bristol to work on a new project the National Bats and Habitats Survey. This was a highly ambitious project  designed to examine bat activity across different landscapes in the UK. From mountain moorland to coast, I worked hard visiting local bat Groups to engage volunteer support to survey 1km square sites  and spent two summers living in a campervan conducting surveys in the more remote less populated areas across Scotland. Along with many , many midges for company.

 

After completing my PhD thesis, I then moved on to setting up and starting the National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP) . the NBMP monitors population changes for 11 of the UK’s 17 resident bat species and has produced trends on these since 1997.The NBMP is run by the Bat Conservation Trust, in partnership with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, and supported and steered by Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, NatureScot (formerly Scottish Natural Heritage) and Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

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As the programme coordinator I spent five years setting up this programme, designing and testing the methods, setting up a national database, and designing and implementing skills training for members of the public alongside my colleague Colin Catto.  I carried out many surveys myself to cover remote areas. in Wales and Scotland. The NBMP comprises several surveys focussed on different species. Key surveys include the ‘Field Survey’ (recording along transect routes in random stratified 1km squares), the ‘Waterway survey' (surveying for Daubenton’s bat along riparian transects), ‘Roost Counts’ and the ‘Hibernation Survey’.

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The data from this programme contribute to JNCC official annual statistic on the status of UK bats and to UK Biodiversity Indicators C4a and C8. Bats are strictly protected species and data from the NBMP provides an important source of evidence for reporting under the Habitats Directive.