Expert Training in Bat Surveys - all-day workshop

Posted by ecl
12th April 2013
Bats, Ecologist, Mammals, Training & CPD, wildlife
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A pair of ‘educational’ serotine bats were the stars of the show, giving a rare chance for our staff to see bats up close.

Today, our expert bat team in the London office ran their annual bat training day.

Each year The Ecology Consultancy ensures that our ecology teams hits the survey season running and they have the skills needed to carry out bat surveys to a high standard. For new starters, this means acquiring new skills, while for others it’s a chance to consolidate and develop their knowledge further. With survey season just around the corner, we already have most of May booked up with surveys, so our trainees will have the chance to use their newly honed skills straight away.

Our ecologists followed a carefully devised programme. From the initial inspections, nocturnal surveys and sonogram analysis, through to reporting, legislation and licensing, covering all the key aspects of bat surveys that ecologists use. The training was informative and discussion-led, with bat experts sharing helpful tips.



The skills described in the theory sessions were put into practice during a practical session of building- and tree- inspections. (Some bat evidence was actually ‘planted’ to test our trainees. We very responsibly removed it all afterwards!).

A sonogram workshop provided the opportunity to learn how to analyse bat calls, and other forms of bat ID (such as bat morphology and dropping ID) are also illustrated.

A pair of ‘educational’ serotine bats were the stars of the show, giving a rare chance for our staff to see bats up close.



At the end of the day, a friendly exam put what they’ve learned to the test and all passed with flying colours!

Getting good quality survey data from our ecologists is the essential building block for the recommendations and mitigation design we provide to our clients. Investing in our surveyors in this way ensures they have the right level of skill, experience and confidence for the busy bat period this year.

Caroline Ford, our newest Ecologist said, "I did quite well in the exam but the bat poo ID was challenging! The day was well-run, very informative and a brilliant learning experience".

Nick Deykin said, "That was one of the best training days I have experienced - even if I had paid for it I would be very satisfied! Thanks to the expert team who put it on".

Danny’s birding competition

Posted by ecl
2nd April 2013
Birds, Danny's birding competition, Ecologist, wildlife
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Our Danny competes with some friends to see who can see the most UK birds in a year.


ECL Ornithologist Danny has recently entered into a friendly year listing competition with some ex-colleagues. The aim is to see as many species of bird within the UK within the calendar year and ideally see more in total than his fellow competitors. Being based in Norfolk, arguably the mecca for bird watching in the UK should be an advantage, but with a baby daughter and busy work schedule free time for bird watching can sometimes be hard to find.


January’s birding was largely limited to work surveys with a few key twitches to get some quality species including a long staying black-bellied dipper in Thetford and a crafty lunchtime visit to see a Slavonian grebe at a nature reserve less than a mile from the office. January’s total was of 96 was a little disappointing and trailing the lead tally of 120 by 24 species but contained some difficult to get species and was nevertheless a solid start to the year.




February started well and continued to produce some interesting species during surveys including a pair of red-crested pochard and bittern at a site in Cambridgeshire and a jack snipe at DP World. A well timed visit to RSPB Titchwell produced a red-necked grebe and a female long-tailed duck. A female smew near King’s Lynn, great white egret in Norwich and rough legged buzzard all added quality birds to the tally. A weekend visit to Reading produced the inevitable and easy red kite giving a total of 121 at the end of the month and now only 5 birds behind the lead.


March sadly slowed down again with the transition between winter and spring the potential for new species is a bit limited before the return of the summer migrants. A visit to Buckenham RSPB reserve to try for bean geese and Bewick’s swan resulted in failure but did produce three short-eared owls for the year list and a very obliging barn owl which although not a year tick, was a nice bird. A Mediterranean gull was a good find during a survey at DP World in Essex although now fairly common in the Thames Estuary area; it’s still an unusual encounter. A last ditch effort for the month took me to North Norfolk on a lovely, sunny Easter morning, where a long staying great grey shrike had spent the winter at Egmere near Walsingham. After an hour of searching I was beginning to question my luck although had seen two barn owls which were very approachable. Finally I found the shrike low in a hedgerow and watched it until it disappeared out of view. I then moved on for a quick stop at Titchwell but unfortunately didn’t add to my tally for the year. It was disappointing to only end March with 125 species, particularly as I am still lagging in 2nd place behind a total of 148 set as the early marker to catch.