Featured next in our top-10 Dove Stone wildlife countdown to the BioBlitz it's the Noctule Bat ( Nyctalus noctula ).
We're hoping we'll record Noctules at Dove Stone on our Friday night bat talk and walk, they have been recorded previously at Dove Stone, alongside records of Common Pipistrelle, Soprano Pipistrelle, Whiskered Brandt and Daubenton's bat. So why are we featuring Noctule ? It was a bit of a throw-up with Daubenton's, Daubenton's Bat being characteristically a bat that flies and forages over water and they often use their feet to trawl for insects, hence the Dove Stone link - it's awesome to watch them fly low over Dove Stone reservoir. Whilst Daubentons's Bats are increasing in range the Noctule bat, although widespread, has declined in Britain as a result of habitat loss including loss of suitable roosting trees from woodland edges and hedgerows, being good sources of invertebrates. Bats are just one species which will benefit from habitat restoration work at Dove Stone such as the planting of hedgerow on field margins that we've undertaken over the last year.
Back to some Noctule bat facts. The Noctule Bat is one of the largest British species and is a bat that appears early in the evening, sometimes before sunset. They'll be foraging for food from around dusk for up to two hours. They've a characteristic powerful, direct flight and fly in the open, often well above tree-top level. One of the exciting things about Noctules is their steep dives when chasing insects. They'll catch most of their food on the wing and eat in flight but occasionally they'll take prey from the ground. This time of year Noctules will probably be feeding on beetles ( mainly chafer and dung ) and moths; earlier in the year it will be smaller insects like midges and winged ants.
There it is. The Noctule Bat. Look forwards to hopefully recording it on Friday evening's Bat Talk & Walk: 8.30pm, Dove Stone Sailing Club.