Woodland Survey

Survey period

25th July to 7th September

How to take part

Woodland Survey

(c) Hugh Clark

This survey is funded by Natural England and focuses on monitoring barbastelles at sites designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) due to the presence of this species. In previous years we have also rolled the survey out to non-SAC sites but we are discontinuing this aspect of the survey for the time being. Thank you to everyone who has carried out surveys at non-SAC sites.

Surveyors are asked to walk a 60-70 minute transect in a woodland of their choice. All species are recorded, with particular focus on the rare barbastelle bat. Ideally the woodland should predominantly contain mature broad-leaved trees and also have water features. Continuous recordings are made using a broadband bat detector attached to a recording device (not needed if the detector records directly to an internal memory card). The recordings are then analysed by survey volunteers or BCT staff in order to identify and quantify the species that are present.

Next: National Nathusius' Pipistrelle Project