I have done bat surveys before and know quite a lot about bats so I really wanted to hold a bat night in Carrickfergus to promote biodiversity and showcase our wonderful wildlife. International Bat Night on 30th August was the perfect chance and I chose Bashfordsland Wood in Carrickfergus as it is already a great spot for our native bats such as the Common pipistrelle and Brown long eared.
At the ‘Go Batty for Bats’ evening we built bat boxes to provide extra roost sites for our bats. Bats roost in tree holes and crevices, under bridges, barns, bat boxes and old houses. Bats are nocturnal so they sleep all day in their roosts and then come out to feed after sunset.
We also created a Bat Garden by planting strong smelling plants, such as lavender, jasmine and honeysuckle which in theory attract more insects during the night for bats to feed on. Bats eat moths, flies, midges, mosquitoes and more. All bats have big appetites as flying uses up a lot of energy – the tiny Common pipistrelle can eat over 3,000 insects in one night! Pale coloured plants are also useful for bats are they are easier to see at night.
After sunset we got out the bat detectors and listened for bats. Bats use a sonar system called echolocation to find their way around and to find insects and with bat detectors we can hear the bat calls as clicks, squeaks and pops.
We saw and heard loads of pipistrelle bats flying around which was a bat-tastic end to the evening! There are 8 species of bat living in Northern Ireland and pipistrelles are the most common and widespread.
Pipistrelle!