Our senior ecologist Sarah Nicholas recently took part in a bat survey with an unusual and exciting height related twist! Working with a team of rope access technicians, Sarah inspected the cliffs of Samphire Hoe to assess whether bats were hibernating in the crevices and cracks in the cliff face. Samphire Hoe is located between Dover and Folkestone in Kent, and is a reclaimed piece of land created by Eurotunnel during the construction of the Channel Tunnel.
Sarah reported,”During the surveys I was quite hopeful I would see a bat, especially as a number of the cracks and crevices in the cliff were quite deep and looked ideal for hibernating bats. However, I was out of luck as I didn’t see any bats during my survey. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed working with the rope access technicians and getting to see the wildlife of Samphire Hoe from a different perspective.”
Samphire Hoe is well worth a visit and is now a nature reserve with a diverse range of species, including 200 species of plants, such as the rare early spider orchid, 140 bird species and 30 butterfly species. Sarah herself spotted a few bird species including a peregrine, woodcock, pied wagtail, wood pigeon, and a kestrel.
