Projects and activity plansNathusius' Pipistrelle Project
Our local bats – Summer Holidays Project 2011
Help us find out more about our local bats and in particular the rare Nathusius' Pipistrelle.
We have recently discovered this rare bat is living in the Ashington area and would like your help to find out more about exactly where it is roosting, where it feeds and anything else we can find out about it.
You can do this by:
- Telling us if you know of or have a bat roost
- Let us know if you see bats flying in your garden or street at dusk (or dawn)
There is a lot we have yet to learn about this rare species of bat in the UK but it is thought to be migratory and so we have only a limited time available to us to track it down before it may move somewhere else. So please let us have any information as soon as you can.
If you know where there are bats roosting in or near Ashington (within approximately 10km of Ashington), or where you see lots of bats at dusk (or dawn) in that area please let us know. Contact Tina Wiffen on 07717574151 or email her on
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. You may also enter you bat sightings on the Big bat map at www.bats.org.uk/big_bat_map.php to help BCT build a national picture.
Once we know of possible roosting sites, we will be carrying out a series of surveys to identify which species of bats are present. Members of the bat group and members of the public who have submitted information to the project are more than welcome to get involved. There will be opportunities for all "skills levels" so whether you know a lot about bats or know absolutely nothing, there will be a chance for you to get involved if you want to. Contact Tina Wiffen to let her know you are interested.
We are hoping to lead a bat walk for all interested parties during the European Bat Weekend (August bank holiday weekend), and promote the project at local events and in the local media. The other directions the project takes will depend on what we find in the first stages.
Further details will be posted or emailed as things develop.
This project is being run as a partnership project between Northumberland Bat Group and The Bat Conservation Trust.
There are only a handful of Nathusius' pipistrelle maternity roosts known in Britain so please help us with this exciting summer project.
If you want to know more about Nathusius' pipistrelle there is lots of information on www.nathusius.org.uk
Nathusius' pipistrelle project flyer (pdf)
Northumberland Bat Group Nathusius pipistrelle Project Team
STOP PRESS
As part of the Nathusius' pipistrelle project that Northumberland bat group is undertaking in the Ashington area, we are doing NBMP Waterway surveys in Morpeth on Monday 8th and Monday 22nd August.
The NMBP surveys started in 1997 and the site we will be surveying is a repeat site that was last surveyed in 2005. The survey aims to record the presence of Daubenton's bats feeding over the water although we will also be looking for any Nathusius' pipistrelle records too. We have no records of Nathusius' pipistrelle for this area so it will be good to find out what, if anything, is going on here.
We are meeting in the car park by the Leisure centre in Morpeth at 21:00 on Monday 8th and 20:30 on Monday 22nd, everyone is welcome, hope to see some of you there
Sunday 28th August, 19:30, Wansbeck Country Park, Ashington, free event. Contact Tina 07717574151
Help the Northumberland Bat Group celebrate European Bat Weekend with a bat walk at Wansbeck Riverside Park. Recently the rare Nathusius' pipistrelle bat has been recorded in the Ashington area and the Northumberland Bat Group and the Bat Conservation Trust are working together to try to find out more about these bats. Come along to the bat walk to find out more about this project
Ashington/Druridge Bay, Nathusius pipistrelle surveys, NBMP
Wednesday 7th and Thursday 22nd September
As part of the Nathusius' pipistrelle project that Northumberland bat group is undertaking in the Ashington area, we are doing the National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP) Nathusius pipistrelle surveys at a minimum of seven sites in the Ashington and Druridge Bay area on these two dates. The survey aims to record the presence of Nathusius pipistrelle bats over large water bodies, we have a list of ponds and lakes we wish to survey, and the plan is to co-ordinate the surveys so they all take place on the same night. Training and equipment available for beginners.-
Please contact Tina on 07717574151 or
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for where to meet, thanks.
