BatChat

In our fourth episode, Steve joins bat legend Daniel Hargreaves on an autumnal evening in Rye Harbour Nature Reserve on the coastal boundary of Sussex and Kent in the search of Nathusius’ pipistrelle. Dan gives us an insight into the ecology of this migratory species and what discoveries the National Nathusius’ pipistrelle project has had to date in its five year history. Dan is also responsible for setting up the successful ‘TriniBats’ project and describes how that project came about. The...

In our first episode, Shirley Thompson MBE describes how bat conservation in the UK started and some of the experiences she’s had along the way such as meeting Julian Clary for a wildlife documentary and catching a bat in Kent which had been rung in Lithuania! Shirley is the person who set up the Young Batworker’s club and has been editing the Young Batworker magazine for over 30 years and she talks about how children’s communication has changed over the years. To find out more about...

We have two guests appearing on this episode: Back from the Brink is one of the most ambitious conservation projects ever undertaken. Its aim – to save 20 species from extinction and benefit over 200 more through 19 projects that span England; from the tip of Cornwall to Northumberland. In our second episode, we talk about one of the UK’s rarest bats, the grey long-eared with Craig Dunton – BCT’s project officer for the Back from the Brink project – and how the project has been working to...

Episode 3 was recorded in the Gloucestershire countryside at Woodchester Mansion. The Grade I listed Victorian mansion near Stroud, which was abandoned during construction in the 1850s, has colonies of rare greater and lesser horseshoe bats, as well as pipistrelles and small numbers of brown long-eared and serotine bats. The colony of greater horseshoe bats at the gothic manor house has been studied by Dr Roger Ransome and is thought to be the longest continuous study of a mammal by a...

BatChat is the Podcast from the Bat Conservation Trust. Designed for its members and the wider bat conservation community, it talks to the experts as well as local heroes to bring you the stories from the bat conservation movement from the UK and further afield. Series One will be arriving in the next few days! Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode and let us know if you're looking forward to the series on social media: Facebook:...