SURVEYING ON WALKS
& SPOTS

Surveying on Walk 1
Once you are ready and have recorded the conditions, the survey starts with Walk 1.

Remember to hold your detector up at a 45 degree angle and begin walk 1 with your detector tuned to 25 kHz as illustrated in the video clip.

Walk at a steady pace counting any Leisler's bat passes only. When you hear a bat, you can take a few moments to stop and identify the species. Immediately after identification continue walking and counting the passes. If you are surveying in pairs one of you could count while the other tries to identify.

Leisler's bat can sound similar to noctule and serotine, but these species are not thought to occur in Ireland. Therefore if you pick up echolocation calls at around 25 kHz they will almost certainly be from Leisler's bat. However, when bat detecting it's always good practice to be open minded about what you are hearing and if you do have reason to believe you might have detected noctule and serotine, note it down as “unsure” and add a note explaining why you think it might be one of these other 'big bat' species. See the next two pages for tips on identifying these species.

Ignore any activity of other species you might encounter. You can record them on an additional sheet for added interest but do not record them on the survey form. (For definition of a bat pass see the Detector Tips and Skills Section of this tutorial)

When you reach the first spot, stop - this is the end of “Walk 1”. Record the total number of passes on your survey form under “Walk 1”.