East of England Bat Conference

This event took place on 24 October 2020; the next East of England Bat Conference will be in spring 2022.

Due to continuing Government restrictions around COVID-19, this event was held online.

East of England Bat Conference

The East of England Bat Conference is an opportunity for volunteer and professional bat workers in the East of England to spend time together (virtually for the last event): updating their knowledge, sharing best practice, developing their skills and catching up on the latest 'bat chat'. The day included spotlight talks from various bat groups in the region, longer talks on projects and sharing new knowledge, and a choice of practical workshops. There was also plenty of time for catching up with batty friends or making some new batty acquaintances in online chats.

This one-day event was primarily for bat workers and bat enthusiasts who live, work, or are members of bat groups in the East of England. The area covered includes: Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Bedfordshire, and Cambridgeshire.

The online delegate rate was £25 for members of BCT and Partner Bat Groups and £30 for non-members.

The programme included:

• An update on the work of the Bat Conservation Trust - Joe Nunez-Mino, BCT
• Discovering barbastelle maternity colonies in Hertfordshire - Chantal Helm, Hertfordshire Barbastelle Project
  
• End of the road for barbastelles? - Lotty Packman, Wild Wings Ecology
  
• Bats in Churches Project - Claire Boothby, BCT
• National Nathusius Pipistrelle Project in the East of England & future plans for mirgrations studies using MOTUS - Jane Harris, Norwich Bat Group
• Five minute bat group spotlight sessions will be scheduled between the main talks during the day
• A Priorities Discussion Session for Bat Conservation in the East of England

There was a choice of 90 minute workshops:

• Surveying Buildings for Bats (Chris Vine)
  
• Discovering Bats in Churches (Rachel Arnold & Diana Spencer)
• QGIS for Bat Groups: a discussion based workshop (Steve Roe)
• Making Bats Memorable (Joe Nunez-Mino)
• Introduction to Sound Analysis (Philip Briggs)
• Advanced Sound Analysis (Neil Middleton)
• Efficiency and Effectiveness (Lisa Worledge)
• Organising and hosting online meetings and events via Zoom (Naomi Webster)

There were also a number of virtual exhibition stands that delegates were able to browse through on our Event app and lots of bat workers to network with in online chat during the breaks. We also ran an online raffle, raising funds for the National Bat Helpline.