23rd April East Lancashire Bat Group Meeting - Slaidburn

Wednesday 23rd April saw a good turn out for the dry run of the Bowland Kiln Emergence survey to be held on the 30th April.

The meeting was held in the Hark to Bounty pub - a fine venue where maps and instructions were dished out. Armed with recording forms, detectors, recorders and Clulights, small groups made their way out to lime kilns distributed around the Trough of Bowland.

8 lime kilns in all were surveyed with 5 species of bat recorded, a good result given the low temperatures and weather we've been experiencing. Typically the Kiln I surveyed had nothing, so as a consolation we headed for the River Hodder in the middle of Slaidburn where we expected to pick up Daubenton's. No daub activity but a good recording of both Common and Soprano Pipistrelles with plenty of social calls, probably due to competition for the low numbers of insects.