Introduction to assessing potential roosts, trees and buildings for bats and emergence surveys

HI all,

The next meet up is on Friday the 6th of July (first Friday of every month usually) and the plan this month is to mix it up a little and do something new. This will all help prepare us for an upcoming event that we are planning with An Taisces -Living Limerick and the Vincent Wildlife Trust. More on that to follow.

On this upcoming event, we will go to a known bat roost (suggestions welcome), talk about what makes it a suitable bat roost and what bats need in a roost. We will look for things that identify a structural roost as a bat roost (e.g. droppings, oil stains etc.) and we will learn a basic way to identify if a tree is suitable as a bat roost.

We will then learn about emergence surveys, the differences between various survey types and will conduct an emergence survey on the roost according to best practise guidelines. It will start the meet up and training at about 9, as sunset is at 10 and we need to start the emergence survey at 15 minutes before sunset. We don't have to, but its best practise to get early emerging species.

If you are definitely going to attend and would like notes let me know (there may be a small charge for this depending on the amount of people who do want notes, otherwise I'll just be talking away and you can listen, observe, learn and love bats as always.

Hope to see you soon and I will send out the location as soon as it's confirmed.

Tanya.