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S4E43 As series four comes to a close, Steve sits down with a titan of bat conservation. Dr Robert (Bob) Stebbings is one of the original bat workers in the UK and in this episode we hear about some of the major bat conservation work undertaken by Bob over the last half century. Make sure you follow the show so you get notified of our two bonus episodes which will go out before the next series. The first of those will be an interview with the team who made Wild Isles and you can watch the trailer for this upcoming landmark nature documentary here.Night Winged was written by Helen Ball and you can find her on twitter and Instagram.Get in touch with the show - comms@bats.org.uk - if you have a story to share, are doing a bat project or want to submit a piece of writing or poetry. Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S4E42 This week Steve joins Chris Damant in the grounds of Cliveden House on the banks of the River Thames. As fine dining takes place in the hotel above them, Chris and his team have set up traps to catch bats as they arrive to mate in the middle of the night. Underneath the south terrace are a number of rooms which mimic underground structures and its these that the bats travel to from far and wide to undertake an annual phenomenon, autumn swarming. Cliveden hosts one of the most important bat sites in the country, with eight species swarming here between August and October. Read more about the work Chris has undertaken at Cliveden Follow Chris Damant on twitter and instagram Take a look at our ROOST website that Chris mentions in this episode Book your place at the Scottish or South-West bat conferences Leave us a voicemail! Got a question for the bat community or want some advice? Whether you’re new to bats or a seasoned bat lover, we want to hear from you. Record your voice message here. Don't worry, you can hear it back and re-record it if you don't like it. Join the conversation with the hashtag #BatChat Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S4E41 Tony Hutson has been shouting about bats since the 1960's and has changed the bat conservation landscape in that time. He was a founding member of the bat groups of Britain, the precursor to the Bat Conservation Trust. His survey work on the lonely greater mouse-eared bat inspired a play and he's been on expedition to a remote cave with astronaut Neil Armstrong. Steve sits down with Tony in this episode to find out more about Tony's work. Read our news story about the discovery of the second greater mouse-eared bat Sussex bat group's website, twitter and instagram Leave us a voicemail! Got a question for the bat community or want some advice? Whether you’re new to bats or a seasoned bat lover, we want to hear from you. Record your voice message here. Don't worry, you can hear it back and re-record it if you don't like it. Join the conversation with the hashtag #BatChat Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S4E40 In this interview recorded right at the end of August 2022, Steve is sat in a Norfolk woodland with Dr Charlotte Packman. We learn what potential impacts a new road in the area might have on the local bat populations and as Lotty explains it could have a significant impact on a nationally significant barbastelle bat population. Lotty works for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) as their Conservation Scientist and the research discussed in this episode has been a collaboration between NWT, Wild Wings Ecology and the University of East Anglia. Lotty starts us off by introducing herself and describing where we are.Read the latest on the NDR from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.Read other news on the NDR from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.Our own position statement on the NDR is here.The Change.org petition can be found here.Listen to that other episode mentioned with Jane Harris at the incredible Paston Great Barn site.Since recording this episode the Norfolk Wildlife Trust have submitted a proposal to Natural England to consider the Wensum Woodlands for SSSI status. You can find that application listed here.Send a voice message to BatChat! We want you to get in touch with your favourite bat experience. It doesn’t matter whether it was the first time you’ve ever seen a bat, you might have seen a brief shadow flying past as you were leaving your house, perhaps you’ve been checking bat boxes with yo Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S4E39 Rodrigo Medellín is Mexico's very own 'Bat Man'. Since he first kept vampire bats in his bathroom as a child, Rodrigo has dedicated his life to saving them. On the evening of the 2022 UK National Bat Conference, Steve sits down with Rodrigo and asks him what it felt like to succeed in taking the lesser long nosed bat off the endangered species list and what it felt like to watch the bat volcano of Calakmul for the first time.National Geographic Explorer at Large Rodrigo MedellínRodrigo's twitter and InstagramBat friendly tequila brands  Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S4E38 We return to London's Natural History Museum. This time however, we're in the bowels of the Diptera collection with flygirl herself, Dr Erica McAlister. If you think you recognise that name it's because Erica has graced the airwaves several times before including BBC Radio 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage and The Life Scientific. As you'll hear in this episode, Erica needs help from those of us who regularly handle bats. If you're a bat carer or a bat worker who undertakes bat box checks or trapping surveys, please start collecting all bat ectoparasites from bats and place them into vials of 100% ethanol. Make detailed notes about the species of bat they came from, the sex of the bat, located of ectoparasite & what the bat was doing at the time. A location & the habitat is also a must. As much info as possible! You can then post your specimens to:Dr Erica McAlister,Senior Curator; Diptera,Life Sciences (Insects Division),The Natural History Museum,Cromwell Road,London SW7 5BD. Your specimens will be added to the collection and your name will eventually appear in the digital collections.Bat and bird fly recording scheme websiteSee Piotr Naskrecki's bat fly image hereA short video of Erica talking about bat flies along with more photos hereEthanol can be Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Wildlife Acoustics Wildcare Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S4E37 Haddon Hall, the private residence of Lord and Lady Edward Manners,  is set in the Peak District in the valley of the River Wye. With nine hundred years of history, it is one of the oldest houses in the country and moreover one of the only houses in England to have remained in one family’s ownership for its entire existence. In the corner of the Hall, a large soprano pipistrelle bat roost resides within the roof of the Chapel. Steve chats with Lord Edward about rewilding of the estate, his conservation work in Africa and the fact that he has to clear bat droppings from his desk each morning!  Find out more about wilding of the Medieval Parkland as well as it's ecologyWatch a video of the roost on the Derbyshire Bat Group YouTube pageAdvice about bats in historic buildings from Historic England, the bats in churches project and from this collaborative guide.Send a voice message to BatChat! We want you to get in touch with your favourite bat experience. It doesn’t matter whether it was the first time you’ve ever seen a bat, you might have seen a brief shadow flying past as you were leaving your house, perhaps you’ve been checking bat boxes with your local bat group and saw bats up close for the first time or saw a bat species you've never seen before, perhaps you’ve counted a bat roost this summer and something unusual happened, maybe you heard what bats sound like on Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Wildcare Wildlife Acoustics Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S4E36 You join us in a secret location this week. Back in 2019, Scotty Dodd from the Sussex Bat Group made the most significant discovery in the history of the bat group...the first maternity roost of greater horseshoe bats in Sussex for one hundred years. Truly the find of the century! In a small dry valley surrounded by beech trees, Scotty & Steve are sat in front of the run-down stable block as Scotty describes to Steve how he came across the roost and got the verification he was looking for.As you'll hear in this episode, the team need a lot of money to save this roost and improve it so that the colony has every chance of survival. So if you can,donate to the JustGiving appeal hereSee the roost on the VWT websiteSee what else the Sussex Bat Group get up to and follow them on twitterSend a voice message to BatChat! We want you to get in touch with your favourite bat experience. It doesn’t matter whether it was the first time you’ve ever seen a bat, you might have seen a brief shadow flying past as you were leaving your house, perhaps you’ve been checking bat boxes with your local bat group and saw bats up close for the first time or saw a bat species you've never seen before, perhaps you’ve counted a bat roost this summer and something unusual happened, maybe you heard what bats sound like on a detector and thought it was the coolest thing ever! Whether you’re new to bats or a seasoned bat lover, we want to hear all about your favourite bat experience from this year. Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Wildlife Acoustics Wildcare Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S4E35 We're back with a brand new series! This week Steve joins a volunteer roost visitor, Chris Smith from Staffordshire Bat Group, on a roost visit requested by the Bat Conservation Trust. Chris discusses the value of the free service, how he got into volunteering for the visits and why he thinks it provides such a great positive outcome for bats (most of the time!). Hear how Chris undertakes the survey and provides advice to the roost owners afterwards. Want to know more about bats living in your house or how to tell if you have a bat roost? BCT have lots of info here.Interested in becoming a Volunteer Roost Visitor?Send a voice message to BatChat! We want you to get in touch with your favourite bat experience. It doesn’t matter whether it was the first time you’ve ever seen a bat, you might have seen a brief shadow flying past as you were leaving your house, perhaps you’ve been checking bat boxes with your local bat group and saw bats up close for the first time or saw a bat species you've never seen before, perhaps you’ve counted a bat roost this summer and something unusual happened, maybe you heard what bats sound like on a detector and thought it was the coolest thing ever! Whether you’re new to bats or a seasoned bat lover, we want to hear all about your favourite bat experience from this year. Record your voice message here. Don't worry, you can hear it back and re-record it if you don't like it.Join the conversation on social media using #BatChatProducer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatMan Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Wildcare Wildlife Acoustics Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

BatChat is returning on 9th November 2022 with series 4 and we want to hear from you!Yes that's right; you guys, your voices, on this show. We want you to get in touch with your favourite bat experience. Maybe you discovered bats living in your house, you went on a bat walk for the first time or you saw bats somewhere you weren't expecting. Whether you’re new to bats or a seasoned bat lover, we want to hear all about your favourite bat experience. So how do you leave this message? Well you can leave us a voicemail and we’ll play your recording here on BatChat!https://www.speakpipe.com/batchatDon’t worry; you can listen to your message before sending it to us and re-record it if you don’t like it! Remember to say your name if you'd like to be credited.Wildcare Wildlife Acoustics Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S3E34 Hidden amongst the boughs of an Oak tree, Steve & his guests look down over the Knepp Castle Rewilding Estate; former farmland which has been allowed to return to nature by the owners Isabella Tree & Charlie Burrell. In this episode, as the sun sets the light turns golden. Below us red deer begin to bellow at the start of the rutting season, a green woodpecker calls out from amongst the tussocky grassland and bats begin to flit about the Oak canopy they're stood in. Our guests in this final episode of season 3 are Ryan Greaves and Stephanie Murphy. Ryan tells us more about the Estate and Steph explains how bat surveys have evolved over the years. Follow Ryan and Steph on Instagram Follow Knepp on twitter and Instagram Find out more about the greater horseshoes in Sussex Get more audio from Knepp by having a listen to their podcast Get the history of the Knepp Rewilding project here The bestselling book Wilding by Isabella Tree can be bought here Season 4 Recording for series 4 is already underway and will be coming later in the year. We're looking for participants to share bat stores from across the UK with the podcast so if you're working on a great bat project or have a story about the bats in your area to share please drop us an email to comms@bats.org.uk Our Social Media Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrus Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S3E33 Discover the amazing work taking place in the dead of night each year by hoards of volunteers. This episode starts with Steve joining a team of these volunteers who are counting out a brown long-eared bat roost in the Derbyshire Dales at dusk as a nearby rookery gathers. We then sit down in Battersea Park, London with Philip Briggs, monitoring manager for the Bat Conservation Trust who collates all of this data sent in by volunteers and turns it into invaluable trends to establish how our bats are faring year on year in the UK.  The National Bat Monitoring Programme is one of the longest running citizen science projects in the world and YOU, yes YOU can take part! There are surveys which need no prior experience. Get involved with the NBMP yourself here Take a look at the summary maps for each survey type Watch footage of the brown long-eared roost being counted out by Jill in this episode here as the bats return at dawn Read the latest NBMP report to see how our bats are faring Please leave us a review of the show as it helps us get BatChat discovered by other listeners. Instructions of how to leave your review in each of these places can be found here. Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrustTwitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrustFor more bat news, head to o Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S3E32 Join Steve on the Welcombe Hills overlooking Stratford-upon-Avon as he sits down with the author of Bobby the brown long-eared bat, a children's book which follows the adventure of a baby brown long-eared bat who lives in the attic of a farmyard. Sitting in the autumn sunshine on a wooden bench watching the world go by, Angela reveals to Steve where the inspiration for Bobby came from, how she got into the world of bats, the challenges of publishing as well as revealing what's next in store for Bobby!   Angela is on twitter and Instagram Find out more about Bobby the brown long-eared bat on his own website! Get your own signed copy direct from Angela from her online shop or order from here and 10% of the proceeds will be donated to the Bat Conservation Trust Support your local bookstore by shopping on uk.bookshop.org where you can name your local bookstore to support them whilst you shop. Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrustTwitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrustFor more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatManCover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/ Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S3E31 This week Steve is on the Tortworth Estate in south Gloucestershire with Jim Mullholland. They're joined by a voluntary team of arborists who are assisting Jim with his 5 year project to create natural tree features for Bechstein's and barbastelle bats. By using chainsaws to create different crevices and cavities within living trees, the team hope that they will be taken up by colonies of the two bat species which are present in the woodland Steve is visiting today in this episode. The episode starts on a sunny spring day in an ancient woodland with chiffchaff singing in the canopy overhead. As the episode moves down to where the team are working for the day there's more background noise than you're used to on BatChat because the woodland is right next to the M5 motorway.   Jim Mullholland is on twitter and Instagram Jim has a YouTube channel with a number of videos of bats inside tree roosts. The Tortworth Estate opens to the public on certain days of the year. Find out more here. Listen to our other episodes on veteranisation with Jim and Vicky Bengtsson A guide to veteranisation techniques is at this link. Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrustTwitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrustFor more bat news, head to our website Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S3E30 This week Steve is in Surrey at RHS Garden Wisley with Principal Entomologist Dr Andrew Salisbury. Andrew sits down with Steve in the brand new wildlife garden outside their new laboratory building to tell us about the work the RHS do and how we can improve our gardens for wildlife including bats. This week we also have a piece of nature writing by James Gilbert. James creates 'thumbnail' pieces and tweets them out and he's created a longer piece especially for BatChat called "Made with Echoes". RHS Garden Wisley website, twitter and Instagram RHS Plants for Pollinators list Andrew Salisbury is on twitter and Instagram and his RHS profile is here Info on how to garden for bats can be found on our website James Gilbert is on twitter Morgan Brind who narrated Made with Echoes is on twitter and Instagram If you have a piece of nature writing or poetry about bats that you'd like to share with us, drop us an email to comms@bats.org.uk and your piece may end up on the show! Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrustTwitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrus Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S3E29 This week Steve joins Martyn Cooke outside a holiday cottage in Staffordshire as they set up a matrix of bat detectors to record the sound of Brandt's bats emerging from their roost before flying into the adjacent woodland. Martyn explains why he is recording the calls, why he's travelled all the way from Surrey to record these bats and what the calls will be used for. Steve finds out how an injured serotine bat got Martyn hooked on bats and they talk about the advances in automatic bat call identification.If you're interested in finding out more about bat detectors, your local bat group are likely to be able to lend you a detector and you can learn more about them on our website here.   Listen to our earlier episode from series one about Brandt's in the Churnet valley here. Follow Martyn on twitter Borrow detectors from us to help us grow the call library Bat Detector Info Low cost AudioMoth detectors on twitter Please leave us a review if you can, it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. Join the conversation on social media using #BatChatProducer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatMan Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S3E28 This week Steve is joined in a Derbyshire churchyard by Jon Russ who is an expert on bat echolocation calls. They discuss how Jon got into studying bat calls, his latest book on the subject and his passion for Nathusius’ pipistrelle bats. Jon's latest book "Bat Calls of Britain and Europe" is available from Pelagic Publishing and is aimed at anyone interested in bat echolocation. It contains introductory chapters to the subject as well as more advanced topics such as sound analysis. As Jon says in this episode if you want to get into learning about bat calls the best place to start is to get hold of a bat detector. Your local bat group are likely to be able to lend you a detector and you can learn more about them on our website here. Jon's other passion is Nathusius' pipistrelles and he runs the website dedicated to this species containing distribution maps, identification tips and other information about their ecology.  Listen to our earlier episode about Nathusius' pipistrelles with Dan Hargreaves here. Bat Calls of Britain and Europe  Bat Detector Info Nathusius' pipistrelle website Please leave us a review if you can, it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. Join the conversation on social media using #BatChatProducer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatMan Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S3E27 This week Steve is in the Lake District National Park with Ecologist and Chair of south Cumbria Bat Group Rich Flight. Rich published the findings of a study called "Bats with Altitude" in the journal British Island Bats in 2021 and he sits down with Steve to tell us about what inspired the project, what bats were found at over 500m on the mountainsides and how volunteers surveyed for bats in challenging upland conditions. Bats with Altitude paper (page 105) published in British Island Bats where photos of the study sites and maps are available Rich's Instagram Rich's twitter South Cumbria Bat Group website Cumberland Bat Group website Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrustTwitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrustFor more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatManCover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/ Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S3E26 This week Steve is at Chorlton Water Park Nature Reserve in Manchester with author and illustrator Emma Reynolds. Emma's debut author-illustrator book "Amara and the Bats" was published here in the UK in July 2021 and she sits down with Steve to tell us how the book has been received, what she thinks the future of children's books holds and what it was that inspired her to write a kids book about bats. Emma's website Amara and the Bats publisher website Buy your books and support your local bookstore using Bookshop.org Emma's shop (including pin badges, stickers & cards) #KidLit4Climate Emma's Instagram (where you can watch Bat Club Live on Tuesdays or watch the back-catalogue whenever you like) Emma's twitter Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrustTwitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrustFor more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatManCover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/ Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!

S3E25 This week Steve is on the Norfolk coastline in the East of England visiting Jane Harris from the Norfolk barbastelle study group. Paston Great Barn dates back to 1581. It’s a huge thatched barn made of flint, brick and stone measuring 50 meters in length and about 10 meters wide. Despite it’s size, driving south along the coast road it’s very easy to miss as you pass its end flint wall and not until you glance in your rear view mirror do you get a feel for the expanse of the structure. Hidden away inside this SSSI and SAC is an important roost of rare barbastelle bats which emerge from the barn at night and either head off down the country lanes or to the cliffs along the beach to forage. Jane and Steve discuss the work done by the research group to discover more about barbastelles in Norfolk as well as this important roost where it all started back in 1996. Norfolk barbastelle study group website Their blog site A historic newsletter with a timeline of events at Paston barn The British Islands Bats paper than Jane mentions Norwich Bat Group Social Media Norfolk Wildlife Trust Social Media Please leave us a review if you can, it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrustTwitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservation Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2022-2023.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout for 10% off all bat detectors!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more. We're running a Listener SurveyWe’d really appreciate it if you could answer a few quick questions about BatChat so that we can bring you the best possible content for future series.You can leave your answer anonymously if you'd prefer: https://forms.office.com/e/VAvudX7NFr Support the show Please leave us a review or star rating if your podcast app allows it because it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are. How to write a podcast review (and why you should).Got a story to share with us? Please get in touch via comms@bats.org.ukBats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate Thank you!