James Blake
chasing the shadow of a lowskimming gull
Had an excellent time watching of Greater Horseshoe Bats at Buckfast last night.
The placeto go is the Abbey Inn (wrongly given as the Abbey Hotel in the new Where to Watch Mammals). The furthest table on the terrace overlooking the Dart is the best vantage point.
One of the staff (possibly the owner) was very informative - he told us that the bats begin emerging 10 mins after sunset (earlier than most accounts of this species suggest), and indeed they did this. Must have seen at least 100-200 bats shooting out low across the river in a half hour period.
My new Ciel bat detector failed to pick up any calls - don't know if this was because they weren't hunting at the time, or if it's not a great detector - seems OK with pipistrelles.
Apparently Daubenton's Bats and sometimes Otters also use this stretch of the Dart, and I'd imagine Dipper and Goosander must be seen from the inn from time to time as well.
Three nights ago tried looking for the horseshoe bats along the wooded paths around the church, but without success - Farnboro John has seen them here before. Did see a couple elsewhere around Buckfast though.
James
The placeto go is the Abbey Inn (wrongly given as the Abbey Hotel in the new Where to Watch Mammals). The furthest table on the terrace overlooking the Dart is the best vantage point.
One of the staff (possibly the owner) was very informative - he told us that the bats begin emerging 10 mins after sunset (earlier than most accounts of this species suggest), and indeed they did this. Must have seen at least 100-200 bats shooting out low across the river in a half hour period.
My new Ciel bat detector failed to pick up any calls - don't know if this was because they weren't hunting at the time, or if it's not a great detector - seems OK with pipistrelles.
Apparently Daubenton's Bats and sometimes Otters also use this stretch of the Dart, and I'd imagine Dipper and Goosander must be seen from the inn from time to time as well.
Three nights ago tried looking for the horseshoe bats along the wooded paths around the church, but without success - Farnboro John has seen them here before. Did see a couple elsewhere around Buckfast though.
James
