Bats Archives - Wild Frontier Ecology

Bats found in a building – A case study

March 13, 2023
Project Examples

Wild Frontier Ecology was commissioned to provide an ecological assessment report for the demolition and rebuild of a detached property and garage in Holt. An initial visual inspection in June 2021 found bat droppings were present in the loft of the house, and a single brown long-eared bat was roosting in the adjacent garage.

Brown long-eared bat

A dusk emergence survey was undertaken in July 2021 and a dawn return to roost survey was undertaken in August 2021. These confirmed that the garage building was also being used as a roost by a common pipistrelle bat. An assessment report was produced which allowed planning permission to be granted in January 2022.

Wild Frontier Ecology returned to the site and re-inspected in March 2022; as no bats had been recorded using the house the droppings were sent for DNA analysis. This confirmed that this building was also used as an occasional roost by a brown long-eared bat. A mitigation and enhancement plan was produced to ensure suitable compensation was in place.

Building demolition under way

A Bat Low Impact Class licence was used to legalise the demolition of both buildings in July 2022 under the supervision of an Ecological Clerk of Works. The garage roof was soft stripped by hand whilst the house was mechanically demolished following a full visual inspection of the known roost site. A translocation bat box was installed on a tree on site and the new building is now under way on site. This will include two integral swift boxes and an integral bat box.

Whilst our client was initially surprised to find bats roosting in the property they were happy with Wild Frontier Ecology’s professionalism, and that an effective and timely resolution could be put in place.

Wild Frontier Ecology takes to the trees!

August 10, 2021
Blog

Two members of the WFE team can now be found swinging about the trees after successfully completing the City and Guilds NPTC Level 2 Award in Tree Climbing and Aerial Rescue.

In the beautiful grounds of Shrublands Hall near Ipswich, practice trees were roped up and ascended by one of our bat licensed Ecologists, Mary Goddard, and Arboriculturist Alex Lowe. Whilst the trees were smallish to start, their ambitions were large and soon they were scaling bigger and bigger trees with increasing “elegance” and “style”… Safety is always put first – they don’t really swing around the trees, it’s more controlled than that! WFE use the Double Rope Technique (DRT) for climbing, our climbers are fully kitted out with brand new LOLER compliant climbing gear and both have both passed First Aid training courses.

The climbing duo are now putting their skills to use looking for bat roosts in trees and aerial inspections for tree health and safety.

Bat roosts in trees

This method of surveying trees for bats can follow an Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey where potential niches have been identified and the safety of the tree for climbing assessed. Where moderate and high potential trees that are safe to climb are identified, aerial inspection surveys can be undertaken to thoroughly examine potential roost features. This can substantially reduce the need for further survey work.

Dusk or dawn bat activity surveys for trees have a low success rate in terms of finding active roosts and can be especially difficult when trees are in leaf – which is the majority of the bat survey season. Climbing inspections, on the other hand, allow us to get up close and personal with potential niches and with the help of an endoscope, roosting bats can be observed directly or their droppings discovered and collected for analysis. Sometimes niches are found to be unsuitable for bats despite appearing suitable from the ground. In these cases, trees can be downgraded to low bat roost potential and further surveys no longer required, provided that best practice mitigation measures such as soft felling are followed.

Aerial tree inspections

Our new climbing abilities also allow us to better inspect features of concern following a tree risk assessment survey.

WFE’s Arboriculturist can undertake detailed ground level surveys of individual trees or systematic inspections of entire tree populations, identifying any features which may pose an unacceptable risk to people or property. If necessary, features of concern such as cavities, fungal decay or splits can be examined more closely through an aerial inspection to provide a more detailed understanding of the health and safety of a particular tree.

To find out more about WFE’s tree climbing services or enquire about our costs, please contact us at info@wildfrontier-ecology.co.uk or on 01328 855680.

Bats in a listed building

January 27, 2020
Project Examples

WFE was commissioned to complete bat surveys of a former college complex in North Norfolk, following a building inspection which identified moderate and low bat potential in a number of buildings. The buildings were a mixture of different designs and ages, with a part being Grade II listed, and careful thought was needed to achieve efficient deployment of surveyors and recording equipment. We also surveyed a single tree which was due to be felled in the plans.

Old bat droppings in a roof void

Surveyors, thermal imagers and static bat detectors were used over a period of several weeks to conduct two emergence or dawn return surveys on each building. Audio and video results were subsequently analysed, along with surveyors’ field sheets to make sure all bat emergences were both recorded and not double-recorded.

The surveys located day-roosts of common pipistrelles in some of the buildings, and a soprano pipistrelle roost in the tree. Brown long-eared bats were seen on the activity surveys, but no roost could be located in the target structures.

The surveys have provided the developer with a sound evidence base from which to plan refurbishment or demolition and will be useful in supporting a development licence for this work at the appropriate time.

Bats in a Scheduled Ancient Monument

January 27, 2020
Project Examples

WFE was commissioned to conduct bat surveys at a Scheduled Ancient Monument in West Norfolk. There was some known bat activity at the site, with one building holding a roost of brown long-eared bats. Some repairs to the monument were required, so bat surveys focused on the areas scheduled for repair.

A roost for brown long-eared bats

WFE conducted dusk surveys, using a combination of surveyors, thermal imaging equipment and strategically positioned static detectors to record bat emergence at the site. As it was suspected a licence would be required, it was important to establish points of emergence and numbers of each species present. The surveys found a large number of day roosts for common pipistrelle, soprano pipistrelle and two locations for serotine bats (a scarce species locally); and confirmed a maternity roost for brown long eared bats (c.20) situated in one of the buildings.

The survey results were used to support a successful EPS licence application, which is still active.

Demolition in progress

April 22, 2019
Bats

Demolition in progress

WFE was commissioned on behalf of a developer to undertake a protected species survey on a derelict house, associated outbuildings and property near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. The appraisal ruled out the potential for great crested newt impacts, but identified bats using the house to roost. Therefore, an EPS license was needed to legally carry out the demolition of the house. WFE’s licensed bat workers completed further bat activity surveys to satisfy the conditions for an EPS license application.

WFE’s ecologists assisted the client in detailed negotiations with Huntingdon District Council to obtain planning permission for the project and to agree suitable planning conditions.

Once planning permission was granted, WFE successfully applied for an EPS license on behalf of the client. Bat exclusion measures were enacted and the demolition was carried out to schedule under the supervision of an ecologist, as per the license agreement with Natural England. Compensatory bat boxes were erected on trees within the site and three more boxes have been mounted on the completed new builds, which will provide additional bat habitat on the developed site.