Bats and Beetles

As anyone who has tried to photograph or film anything in flight can tell you the hardest part is getting and holding focus. Tonight. I discovered that for myself again. I was sitting having a cup of tea following my dinner this evening, while I had the television on, the programme was drivel. So I looked out of the window, it was past dusk and I saw something fly past the street light. While it had been to fast to tell what it was, I guessed that either a bird or a bat was feeding on the insects and moths that buzz around the lights. So tea forgotten I was straight out with the camera. This was going to be a good test of the IR video. Indeed it was a nocturnes bat, and I could see it taking moths, or at least the moth that I could see disappeared as the bat flew past. So I set the camera rolling and tried to film the bat. I got two chances but both times I missed it.

As bats are corpuscular, feeding at dawn and dusk, I will try again but I will expect to have many long waits though.

Although today I was pleased as I went out with the aim of filming butterflies and or insects and I got some great footage of Cardinal Beetles mating. I also got some other nice bits of film too. Watch this space. Interestingly, while I was out I met a chap who gave me some useful information regarding the Deer in the woods. As there has been some thinning work going on this has changed the movements of the Deer, and what I was told matched with my own observations of Deer tacks along one of the tracks. But more importantly he also told me that Badgers have started to be sighted at a particular spot near the village. While not surprising, I had often wondered why they were not seen there before. As we were talking a buzzard flew over. I just wasn't fast enough, as the camera takes a minute to switch on and from our vantage point the trees quickly obscured the bird.

Part of the reason I had gone out was to look at a specific location were I am hoping to film the Deer. So the additional information was quite timely, and I did see fresh tracks. However, where the trees have been thinned it now leaves me with less cover to film them. I am sure that I will find the right spot though, and if I do get them on film you will get to see it here.

While the impact of the thinning has been noticeable, the overall effect will be beneficial to the larger mammals. And while the ruts left my the heavy machinery has damaged some of the places where the rare orchids flower, this year there are less of them, as the ruts have filled with water they are providing some interesting micro habitats. I suspect that next year we will have more frogs, toads and newts breading here.

It was very hot and even in the shade of the wood I was dripping with sweat, and I was sure that I must have been releasing lots of odour to alert the wildlife. Therefore as I was busy filming a rather interesting fungi I was surprised to see a vixen and two cubs. I was quickly trying to get the camera set up but before I could a shout from a child made them run off. That unfortunately is one of the problems with the long summer school holidays.

Encounters with Bats

Wherever I go, no matter whom I talk to, people do have a love of wildlife. People remember their own encounters with wildlife and can recount when and where they saw something or other.

Last Night I was lucky enough to go out on a “Bat Walk” with a real expert, not only on Bats but on Chopwell Wood. The event was organised by the Forestry Commission and there were over fifty people who turned up for the event. The weather and conditions were perfect for watching and it was a beautiful moonlit night. Even walking across the woods to the assembly point was a great experience with the soft golden light of the evening painting shadows across the landscape.

Going on any event like this does pose a dilemma for me, as while I am there to learn myself, I am also there as a representative of the Friends of Chopwell Wood. Therefore, I cant just be like a little kid who is excited by the experience, I have to remain, a bit at least, like a responsible adult. That doesn’t stop me enjoying the experience of learning.

While I do have some pre-existing knowledge, it is always a joy to garner more from others that have an in depth knowledge of their topic. I did learn quite a bit, and I also realised that I knew more than I thought I did too.

Last night we saw half of the six species of bats that inhabit Chopwell Woods; Common Pipistrelle, Nocturnes Bat and Daubenton's Bat. The Last I spent half an hour trying to photograph, unsuccessfully I suspect, but I will have to wait until I get the film processed. I went towards home with a real buzz and a spring in my step. It was a good job as it was up hill all the way in the dark.

Stopping off in the pub on the way home, I was asked where I had been, upon telling people, I was regaled with other people’s accounts of their encounters with bats.