Bats

[v-ness]

I have been watching 2 bats hunting every evening this week. Conveniently they do this outside my living room window

Because its half dark they are hard to identify, does anyone on here know about bats? Can they be identified by siluette, size etc?

I've been really enjoying their air acrobatics, they either must be new to the area, as I usually see the nearest ones by the local stream a little way away, or there must be a lot of flies in my garden

Cheers
Ness

 

[Harvestman]

To be absolutely sure of identification, you have to have it in your hand (which requires a licence that takes at least 2 years to obtain). However, based on habitat and flight pattern, some reasonable guesses can be made, and using a bat detector helps even more (each bat species calls on a different frequency). Silhouette is largely useless. A photo of one at rest would be a great help.

Commonest bats in the UK are the pipistrelle (2 species now recognised, distinguished almost entirely by their calls), and over water Daubenton's bat is pretty common.

If the bat is big (starling size) it is probably a Noctule, but they normally fly high.

What sort of habitat are you in? Urban, lots of trees, near water, what? It will help to narrow it down a bit. Also which part of the UK are you?

There's probably someone on here who knows a lot more than me though.

 

[v-ness]

Thanks for the reply. There is no chance seeing one at rest I think. I've only seen them flying and it is almost too dark to even see where they come from. Havent heard their call yet either. I'll try to listen out for them. They are pretty small, so they are probably Pipistrelle.

I'm in a large village on Scotlands east coast. Plenty large gardens, fields etc close, and a small stream runs through the village about 500yards away.

Lovely to see them hunting so close by

 

[Harvestman]

Havent heard their call yet either. I'll try to listen out for them.

Will be very surprised if you can hear them. A few children, usually girls, can, but normally the calls are outside human hearing ranges.

Pipistrelle is definitely the most likely.

 

[Ronnie]

I used to hear pipistrelles as a kid on Knoydart - and I'm a boy. They lived under the slates on the roof - still do I hope. Sounded like a mouse to me, only a bit more "clicky". Not sure how else to explain it.