Huge thanks to Huw Morgan of Sussex Wildlife Trust for leading this really enjoyable walk at dusk in the northwest corner of the park.
We gathered in front of St Peter’s Church under a bright sliver of a new crescent moon. The hottest day of the year so far. The perfect setting.
Almost immediately on switching on our bat detection devices we were treated to the sounds and sight of a Pipistrelle bat flying above our heads and across the graveyard.
Huw explained how the bats have recently ventured out from hibernation and are currently looking for mates. May is the popular month for pregnancies to “commence”. Their flight can be erratic as they feed voraciously on the abundance of flying insects, such as midges, with some larger bats also hunting moths.
We headed through the lawns and walled garden of Preston Manor tuned into the echolocation frequency (45 kHz) of Pipistrelles, the UK’s most common species of bat UK.
Then as we emerged into the park the skilful eye of Huw spotted a larger, less common species, the Noctule, in the trees near our famous statue.
A resetting of our devices to 25 kHz and we were treated to the wonderful experience of a Noctule bat flitting just above our heads whilst hearing the loud knocking noises on our devices of its sonar signals.
The group continued to enjoy the experience as we wandered back the graveyard with the darkness descending. Another successful batwalk shared.
