Bat Survey - Brynhyfred, Nantycaws
Background
In July and August of this year, we conducted multiple bat surveys at this property that is currently disused, but with plans to carry out major renovations to make it fit for residential usage once more. These renovations required planning permission with Carmarthenshire County Council Local Planning Authority.
Scoping Survey
During the initial building inspection, we found bat droppings in the loft space that are typical of the size and shape of pipistrelle species, so going into the activity surveys, we already knew that there was a pipistrelle bat roost in the loft space.
Emergence Surveys
During the first emergence survey we conducted, we saw one soprano pipistrelle emerge from the building. Unfortunately, at this point, we weren’t able to pinpoint the exact site the bat emerged from, but we knew the approximate location, so when we went back three weeks later, we knew to put extra cameras pointing at the potential features in that direction. This time, we were able to identify the access point as a gap under the bargeboard that leads to the loft space! If you look at the pictures, you can see how the wall looks a little different under the access point than it does in other places. This shows signs of bat use - the wear and tear of their little claws and the oils from their bodies as they crawl up to gain access to the loft is likely responsible for this fading.
We counted a total of nine soprano pipistrelles emerging from this feature during the second survey.
This isn’t all we found though. We conducted another internal building inspection, and when we looked in the garage again, we found fresh bat droppings that were consistent with the size and shape of brown-long eared bats. These weren’t there during the first inspection, and showed us that there is an active roost for a different species of bat roosting in a different section of the property, inside the garage.
Amazingly, this was not our only new find. One of our surveyors saw a bat emerge from a hole in the stonewall of the garage, and upon approaching the feature, heard bat chatter from within. Using an endoscope, we were able to further investigate, and discovered a natterer’s bat roosting inside the stone wall!
Implications
This fascinating project is a perfect example of why multiple surveys are necessary to glean a full picture of how bats may be using the property. If we had only conducted one activity survey, we would have only found the one soprano pipistrelle, but with the second survey, we found that two additional bat species were roosting in two different parts of the property, and that there were more than simply one pipistrelle roosting in the loft!
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