BatChat

S1E12 This week we have two guests on the show. Hannah Van Hesteren is one of the Helpline Managers at the Bat Conservation Trust. She talks to Steve about the vital work the Helpline does each summer when it takes hundreds of calls each day from members of the public who have found an injured or grounded bat.Gail Armstrong was the recipient of the Pete Guest Award in 2019 for her outstanding practical contribution to bat conservation. Over the last 25 years, Gail estimates she's cared for 800 bats to date in North Lancashire. She discusses what it is about bat care that's so important to their conservation.To support the Helpline, head to their JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/BatHelplineNeedsYouBats are magical but misunderstood mammals. At the Bat Conservation Trust we have a vision of a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. We know that conservation action to protect and conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats and their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever. To donate please go to: www.bats.org.uk/donate  Thank you!If you've got a great bat project or story to tell that you think other listeners would love to hear, drop us an email at comms@bats.org.ukMake sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode and let us know if you enjoyed the episode on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust/Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrust/For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatManCover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/infoSupport the showPlease leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S1E11 Despite a number of our bats using trees as roost sites, we know surprisingly little about how bats use trees. In this episode Steve sits down with veteran tree expert Jim Mullholland from the Arboricultural Association and discusses what we still don't know about the ecology of bats and trees. Jim also touches on a project he's been working on recently using trail cameras as a surveillance technique to help understand this subject.Jim has a YouTube channel with a number of videos of bats inside tree roosts. You can view that channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcxgmE0Z3NAW3n1yzTPohpA To discover more of the bat groups around the UK, head to the bat group pages on the Bat Conservation Trust website: https://www.bats.org.uk/support-bats/bat-groups.Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust/Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrust/For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatManCover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/infoSupport the showPlease leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S1E10 The British Isles have a large number of islands around its coasts and some of these have bat groups. In this episode Steve discusses the challenges of being an isolated voluntary group with Carol Williams who is  the secretary of the Isles of Scilly Bat Group and with Ani Binet who until recently was a resident on Jersey in the Channel Islands and an active member of the Jersey Bat Group. There is also some news hot off the press from the Isle of Man Bat Group. You can read more about the exciting news at our press release here: https://www.bats.org.uk/news/2020/02/lesser-horseshoe-bat-found-in-the-isle-of-manTo discover more of the bat groups around the UK, head to the bat group pages on the Bat Conservation Trust website: https://www.bats.org.uk/support-bats/bat-groups. Their Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/ManxBatGroup/Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust/Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrust/For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatManCover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/infoSupport the showPlease leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S1E9 Steve heads to the Churnet valley in north Staffordshire to join Staffordshire Bat Group members Helen Ball and David Nixon for the day. Helen explains how a colony of Brandt's bats in one of their bat box schemes (started by the Vincent Wildlife Trust) have become one of the main study subjects in their small Myotis bat project which is taking place across the Churnet valley. In the evening, Dave explains the aims of the advanced bat survey techniques they're using out in the field to help with the study and discusses an interesting finding they've made where there appears to be no overlap between any Brandt's and Natterer's colonies within the valley woodlands.If you're interested in finding out more about the bat work taking place in the Midlands region, the biennial Midlands Regional Bat Conference is taking place on Saturday 28th March 2020, more info and booking here: https://www.bats.org.uk/our-work/conferences-symposia/english-regional-bat-conferences/midlands-bat-conferenceTake a look at the Staffordshire Bat Group website: https://www.staffsbats.co.uk/To find YOUR local bat group: https://www.bats.org.uk/support-bats/bat-groupsMake sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode and let us know if you enjoyed the episode on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust/Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrust/For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatManCover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/infoSupport the showPlease leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S1E8 James has been involved in bat conservation since 2010 and has been involved in a variety of projects in that time including setting up Gib-Bats (the Gibraltar Bats Project) in 2013. In 2016 he was awarded the Bat Conservation Trust's Pete Guest Award for making an outstanding practical contribution to bat conservation. In this episode Steve joins James at a bat box check event just outside of Greenham Common in Newbury Berkshire before driving over to Bath to undertake some evening bat work! Take a look at the Gib-Bats website: https://www.gibmuseum.gi/our-work/gib-batsTo find YOUR local bat group: https://www.bats.org.uk/support-bats/bat-groupsMake sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode and let us know if you enjoyed the episode on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust/Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrust/For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatManCover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/infoSupport the showPlease leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S1E7 This is the second installment of a two-part special recorded at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London.This time Steve Roe talks with Roberto Portela Miguez who is the senior curator in charge of mammals at the Museum.Roberto tells the tale of how he and colleagues discovered that a bat preserved in a jar of alcohol which had sat on a shelf in the collections for 30 years was actually a new species to science. He also discusses what role the vast Chiroptera collection at the Museum still has for conservation in today's world.You can read the original Natural History Museum article here: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2015/october/new-bat-species-found-in-museum-collection.html Guardian Article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/31/new-bat-species-rises-from-vaults-of-londons-natural-history-museumMake sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode and let us know if you enjoyed the episode on social media using #BatChat:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust/Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrust/For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatManCover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/infoSupport the showPlease leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S1E6 This is the first of a two-part special recorded at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London.In this first half Steve Roe talks with Steph West who is the Biodiversity Training Manager at the Museum based within the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity.Steph discusses the need to train the next generation of natural historians using the Museum's scientists to decant their knowledge as well as some of the bat surveys she gets to undertake on the Museum's Estates and why she loves the nocturnal world so much.Becoming interested in bats at the age of 12, Steph has worked in various aspects of ecology before her role at the Museum including work as an ecological consultant.Acutely aware of the shift in conservation science, Steph also touches on how the NHM is changing to keep itself relevant in today's world.You can find out more about the Angela Marmont Centre which is available for use by the public wanting to improve their identification skills here: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/centre-for-uk-biodiversity.htmlGive them a follow on twitter here: https://twitter.com/NHM_IDFor info on the Wildlife Garden at the Museum, head here: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/galleries-and-museum-map/wildlife-garden.html Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode and let us know if you enjoyed the episode on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust/Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrust/For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatManCover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/infoSupport the showPlease leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S1E5 Episode five was recorded in May at the Wales Bat Worker’s weekend. The weekend brings together bat workers from across Wales and further afield and Steve speaks to four of them in this episode.Naomi Webster the is the Training & Conferences manager at BCT and gives an insight into what happens at a BCT event.Steve Lucas is the Wales Bat Officer and Species Legislation & Policy Specialist. He talks about bat work in Wales and what Brexit might mean for bat conservation.Denise Foster has recently moved to Wales and is now heading up the Wales element of the National Nathusius Pipistrelle Project (see episode 4 for more on that!).Jean Matthews sits on BCT’s Board of Trustees and talks to Steve about her work with bats over the years and what sort of things Gwynedd Bat Group gets up to.To find out more about the Wales Bat Worker’s Weekend, visit https://www.bats.org.uk/our-work/conferences-symposia/welsh-bat-conferencesFor more details about the events that the Bat Conservation Trust is putting on this year, just head to https://www.bats.org.uk/eventsMake sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode and let us know if you enjoyed the episode on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrust/ For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/ Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatMan Cover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/infoSupport the showPlease leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S1E4 In our fourth episode, Steve joins bat legend Daniel Hargreaves on an autumnal evening in Rye Harbour Nature Reserve on the coastal boundary of Sussex and Kent in the search of Nathusius’ pipistrelle. Dan gives us an insight into the ecology of this migratory species and what discoveries the National Nathusius’ pipistrelle project has had to date in its five year history. Dan is also responsible for setting up the successful ‘TriniBats’ project and describes how that project came about.The National Nathusius’ pipistrelle project was launched in 2014 with a grant from the People's Trust for Endangered Species, to improve our understanding of the ecology, current status and conservation threats for Nathusius' pipistrelles in Great Britain.To find out more about the project, including migration maps of individual bats caught discussed in the episode, visit https://www.bats.org.uk/our-work/national-bat-monitoring-programme/surveys/national-nathusius-pipistrelle-survey Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode and let us know if you enjoyed the episode on social media using #BatChat:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust/Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrust/ For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/ Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatMan Cover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/info Support the showPlease leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S1E3 Episode 3 was recorded in the Gloucestershire countryside at Woodchester Mansion. The Grade I listed Victorian mansion near Stroud, which was abandoned during construction in the 1850s, has colonies of rare greater and lesser horseshoe bats, as well as pipistrelles and small numbers of brown long-eared and serotine bats.The colony of greater horseshoe bats at the gothic manor house has been studied by Dr Roger Ransome and is thought to be the longest continuous study of a mammal by a single individual anywhere in the world.Woodchester Mansion also offers sell-out evening bat walks in the summer, when the creatures can be seen flying out of the building at dusk to feed. Visit their website which lets you know the best time to visit the bats and details of any bat walks: https://www.woodchestermansion.org.uk/Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode and let us know if you enjoyed the episode on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrust/ For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/ Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatMan Cover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/infoSupport the showPlease leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!