Bat detector recording +

Monday evening was such a delightful evening I went out for another Whitmoor walk. The sun was setting and had got caught behind some interesting clouds. The lower cloud was darker grey and had an overlay of narrow white angled pillars. Above this was a large fish-bone effect. I took some pictures but using a mobile isn’t the greatest way of doing this. The shape of the sun was not in evidence off camera but looking at the pictures the sun shows as a distinct area.

Trees also obscured the sunset so it doesn’t fill the pictures. In taking the pictures I discovered a really good open spot encircled by trees and gorse which would be a great place for stopping and gathering for Forest Church. Here are my attempts:

The sunset was one of those that was really special and so I lingered watching it.

I moved on to the path and continued in a similar manner as I had entered the common, that of taking paths where I felt I should go. One of these ‘feelings’ lead me into the trees which isn’t my normal approach as I tend to like being out in the open but I sensed I needed to go that way. In so doing I actually avoided a loud mobile conversation (loud as it was on speaker phone!) by a man who also kept shouting for his dog! Not long after that I came to the spot where I had seen bats previously – right by the railway line on the main path that runs parallel to it which eventually ends up by the Jolly Farmer pub.

From this point on I enjoyed listening to bats with my recorder including a nearby nightjar which I saw land on a tree. Another one was calling the other side of the railway line. There were other birds singing but I was more focussed on the bats this time. Here are my recordings (apologies for some other sounds of me walking and rustling. I haven’t quite worked out whether I can record via a line-out and playback with my phone simultaneously).

I don’t often go out in the dark and especially on the common – I’d also forgotten my torch! So you can understand I was a little nervous about it. I had a real sense I’d never had before that I wasn’t alone, the comfort came from knowing that there were bats flying around me and I was able to detect them in places along my route. Spiritually I should know that I’m never alone as the Holy Spirit is with me but I don’t always sense or feel Him. Having this extra comfort was new.

Hearing the echolocations is a whole new experience in itself and does make me smile especially when they make noises which are reminiscent of rude human noises! The intensity of the sounds are also incredible! Sometimes they’ve come really close as if they are investigating ones presence. There were three high up chasing each other at one point.

The journey to Brooke Pond had been in almost silence with a faint churring in the background from the distant nightjar, as soon as I got near the water I could see the dark shapes in the gloaming flitting over the water. I turned on the detector and the whole place came alive.

Approaching the main wide path back over the open part of the common I had to negotiate two large puddles – or is that small ponds?! I was working out how to do this on the first one and there was a movement in the water I bent down and shone my mobile screen onto a toad which was swimming in the water to the other side of the path. Even though the sky was clear there wasn’t a moon – yet it was still bright enough to see.

So far since coming home and trying to analyse what species they were I have had little success. It is quite a complex thing it seems. There are some peak frequencies around 55 khz but this could be from a handful of different bats if I am correct. I may need to send them off to an expert. I’ve made sure that I have recorded the grid references where I heard each of them (apart from one which I couldn’t recall).