Bats arn't blind they can see almost as well as humans but at night they use echolocation to hunt in the dark. It is sounds of the echolocation we hoped to hear as after a fascinating talk we headed out in the twilight with bat detectors to see if we could find and listen to bats.
|Giving out Bat detectors|
|A rainbow over the barn at Corehead that evening|
|Heading out to find bats|
Its quite magical hearing the clicks and clacks of a bat coming through the bat detectors then watching it swoop across the skyline. Freda taught us to listen out for the 'feeding buzz'. As bats home in on an insect they make a series of very fast clicks so you can hear when they've caught their dinner!
The bats we heard at Corehead were the Soprano Pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pygmaeus). All 9 Scottish species of bat can be found in Dumfries and Galloway and its likely there are other species at Corehead Farm to listen out for.
If you'd like to find out more about bats in this area visit the website of the Dumfries and Galloway bat group.
Many thanks to Freda Seddon for leading such a fascinating event.
|and thanks to the weather as well! The sunset was beautiful that evening|
Community and Education Officer