Bat survey

We went out to do an emergence survey last night, at an old barn in west Norfolk.  It was a gorgeous evening after the wind and showers earlier, would you believe it was still 19 degrees at 11pm?  Although it was overcast the sky stayed quite light because the moon is nearly full, so the bats were easily seen.

The only bats we saw were a handful of pipistrelles hunting round the gardens and the big trees in the yard and along the drive.  I was able to use my new bat detector which seems to work very well.  I am intending to take it to T's this weekend to see if we can find some noctules over the marshes.

I also saw 2 swifts at about 8pm, along with loads of house martins and swallows.  Those were the only swifts I have seen since we saw large numbers heading south over T's garden in Felixstowe about a week ago.  Autumn must be on it's way!

We had a brief view of a barn owl wafting across the farm yard and over the barn, and also heard an owl calling over the meadows making a very spooky noise.  I'm quite glad I had some company.  I think T enjoyed himself too, it was his first bat survey.