Burton & Swift* Present Ecological Explorations in Construction - a Christmas Bat Group talk

A Christmas talk about the practicalities, perils and pitfalls of ecological work.

• Cringe at Chiropterans with an inverted sense of humour!
• Boggle at bolshy Badgers!
• Gasp at Greatcrestednewts!!

Can the audience recount even more extraordinary experiences??

ABOUT BURTON & SWIFT

George Burton has innumerable years’ experience in architecture.

Anna Swift has been working in ecology-related roles for longer than she cares to remember.

*Burton & Speke are unable to attend due to a misunderstanding with a hippopotamus during an ecological consultancy on developing the Nile.

When: 7.30 p.m. Wednesday 17th December

Where: The Barn, Brandon Marsh (Warwickshire Wildlife Trust HQ)

£3 for Warwickshire Bat Group members or £4 for non members

Includes mince pies as well as the usual tea/coffee & biscuits.

An Introduction to the Wytham Bat Project (2006 - 2014) a talk by Danielle Linton

Wytham Wood

Since 2006 Danielle Linton has been coordinating groups of volunteers to check the EGI bird boxes in Wytham Woods looking for bat roosts. Over 21,000 box checks of the 1265 Schwegler boxes have resulted in over 1000 roosts (>80% boxes used to date) being recorded. Three species regularly form maternity colonies in the boxes: Myotis daubentonii, Myotis nattereri and Plecotus auritus, and seven species have been found in boxes at Wytham so far...

Over 3000 individual bats have been ringed in nine years and this study has revealed much valuable information on bat social networks, colony home roost ranges and population dynamics at this site. Following individual life histories and monitoring juvenile health (size and survivorship) per annum also provides some fascinating insights...

come along to find out more!

Introducing Dani Linton

When:
7.30 p.m. Wednesday 19th November

Where:
The Barn, Brandon Marsh
(Warwickshire Wildlife Trust HQ)

£3 for Warwickshire Bat Group members or £4 for non members

Bat Group Talk on Nathusius bats by our very own Jon Russ

When: 7.30 p.m. Wednesday 22nd October
Where: The Barn, Brandon Marsh
(Warwickshire Wildlife Trust HQ)

Nathusius' pipistrelle is one of Britain's rarest bats with only a handful of maternity colonies known, although records of individuals are widespread. Jon will discuss what records of Nathusius' pipistrelle can tell us about the status of the species in Britain and how recent research is adding to our knowledge of the species migratory behaviour. Topics include species identification, migration, range expansion, habitat associations and threats.

Jon presenting his data at the talk.

About Jon: Jon obtained a BSc (Hons) in Zoology from The University of Aberdeen, followed by a PhD at Queen's University Belfast on the distribution, species composition and vocalisations of Northern Ireland's bats. Jon is currently owner of Ridgeway Ecology, an ecological consultancy specialising in bats.

Counting Lesser Horseshoes

This year's Lesser Horseshoe counts have got off to a good start with 42 bats at the roost near Snitterfield and 69 near Ettington.

New distribution maps!

Pages for bats in Warwickshire now show distribution maps, based on the records that we share with the Warwickshire Biological Records Centre.

Thank you to the WBRC for helping to provide these.

A talk by Lois Browne on the latest from the Warwickshire Barbastelle Project

Funded by the SITA Trust The Warwickshire Barbastelle Project is an exciting 2 year project which began in 2012 and will finish in 2014, lead by Warwickshire County Council in partnership with the Warwickshire Bat Group.

The project aimed to gain a better knowledge and understanding of barbastelle ecology by studying the only known maternity colony in the county. Radiotracking studies over two summers have informed habitat management to consolidate and increase habitat quality and connectivity for barbastelles in the local area. Find out more about these fascinating rare woodland bats.

Everyone welcome! 

The Barn, Brandon Marsh Nature Centre on Thursday 20th March 2014 at 7.30pm. 

Bat Group Talk on Nathusius bats by our very own Jon Russ this week - Thursday 6th March

Bat Group Talk - Whiskered, Acathoe and Brandt's bats.

Whiskered, Acathoe and Brandt's bats: What do we know about their ranges in the UK, how do they partition resources and use habitats? - a talk by Phil Brown

The Alcathoe bat, discovered in the UK in the last few years is only known in a few locations across the country. Phil Brown's MSc research investigates differences in habitat use, diet and ranges of the Alcathoe bat and it's cryptic cousins Brandt's and Whiskered. Phil used harp traps with acoustic lures in woodlands across the country over the summer collecting droppings from any Alcathoe, Brandt's and Whiskered bat caught. DNA in the droppings was used to confirm identification. I will talk about my research, where each species were found and and differences in habitat type and diet between the species.

Everyone welcome! 

£3 for Warwickshire Bat Group members or £4 for non members

Saturday 22nd February 2014, 15:30.

Bat Group Talk - Wildlife and Artificial Lighting

Wildlife and Artificial Lighting - a talk by Dr Alex Pollard describing how light pollution affects animals.

Whilst artificial lighting is all around us and has been for many years, its effects on wildlife are only now becoming apparent. A wide range of flora and fauna are known to be affected in some way, with some adverse impacts on conservation seen. This talk will highlight some of the recent research findings and ways in which we can help alleviate the issue.

Alex obtained a BSc in Zoology from Liverpool University, followed by a PhD at Cardiff University on birds and how their behaviour is constrained by their vision. This included research on how artificial light impacts the behaviour of robins. Other interests include bat conservation and bat care. Alex now works as an ecologist with Wildwood Ecology, and is an active member of many volunteer conservation groups including Cardiff, Valleys and Monmouthshire Bat Groups, RSPB and Wildlife Trusts.

Everyone welcome! 

£3 for Warwickshire Bat Group members or £4 for non members

Thursday, 6 February 2014

19:30 - 21:30