A course in Wales and Gloucestershire gave them the opportunity to see hibernating horseshoe bats, pipistrelle bats and brown long-eared bats.

The end of the active bat survey season is fast approaching! The survey season (for bat emergence surveys) ends in August. We recommend that if you think you need a bat survey, to get in touch with The Ecology Consultancy’s dedicated bat team as soon as possible!

The Ecology Consultancy’s London office now has seven licensed bat ecologists. The team have been very busy this summer conducting preliminary bat roost assessments, dusk emergence and dawn re-entry surveys, activity transects and producing mitigation strategies for a variety of buildings in London and the surrounding counties. The London team also have two qualified tree climbers, who can aerially inspect trees for bats and or signs of roosting bats. This approach is often more useful and cost-efficient compared to inspecting the trees from the ground and then conducting dusk/dawn surveys.

Toni Harrington and Tanith Cook, both based in the London office, gained their Natural England Bat Class Level 2 survey licence this year after five years of training and gaining experience. While juggling projects, they also managed to get out into the countryside of Wales and Gloucestershire on a course where they had the opportunity to see hibernating horseshoe bats, pipistrelle bats and brown long-eared bats. This involved surveying a church tower, a residential property, a specially converted barn, trees, bridges, a boat house and putting on waders to venture into a few old stone mines.

They also had the opportunity to handle uncommon bat species, which included the Nathusius’ pipistrelle. There are 17 breeding species of bat in the UK, of which Tanith has handled 11. Tanith said, “It was great to see the Nathusius’ pipistrelle up close and to compare its size to a common and soprano pipistrelle, as it is about double their weight. It was quite similar, but as if pumped up on steroids!”

The bats were caught safely using harp traps and mist nests at a variety of locations, including woodland, lakes and a church.

There are five key members of the bat team within the London office with a combined experience of around 35 years. We are fully competent in the range of bat surveys and provide clients with pragmatic advice, whatever the size of your project.

We are carrying out bird and bug surveys as part of a Citizen Science project with the GLA, Team London Bridge and the Potters Fields Trust and so far have recorded 13 species of bird

Early morning bird survey of Potters Fields and St Johns Churchyard next to Tower Bridge didn’t produce any great surprises. The neighbourhood peregrine was surveying his patch from the tower of Tower Bridge as we arrived possibly deciding whether he fancied pigeon for breakfast – he had plenty to choose from as they were by far the most common species, maximum count 23 at one time.

We are carrying out bird and bug surveys as part of a Citizen Science project with the GLA, Team London Bridge and the Potters Fields Trust and so far have recorded 13 species of bird, including the peregrine, several of them showing breeding behaviour, we even had the opportunity to watch two fledgling wrens being fed by the adult in St John’s Churchyard. There have also been rumours of another bird of prey hunting in the churchyard, unfortunately not when our surveyors have been present.

Graham our invertebrate specialist has recorded numerous honey bees (from the hive on Potters Fields) and 3 species of bumble bees as well as numerous other bugs. The bees were particularly attracted to the nectar rich planting of the Piet Udolf designed gardens.

We are hoping that employees from the GLA and other local businesses will record the wildlife they encounter in their local patch, everyone can get involved even if you don’t know your house fly from your hover fly, a pigeon from a peregrine, it doesn’t matter as long as you can take a photo. The experts at The Ecology Consultancy will be identifying things from the images you provide.

If you want to know more please email [email protected] and you’ll be provided with further guidance. If we get sufficient numbers we’ll organise a brief training session with Ecology Consultancy in early August.

Jane Kendall