Parc Cwm Darran Hibernation Checks

On Saturday we carried out our annual winter checks at Parc Cwm Darran. The checks involved monitoring of both a tunnel and listed building (The Gunpowder Store).

There were no hibernating bats present in the tunnel but members had a chance to look around and practice their endoscope skills.

The Gunpowder Store has previously been  a roost for a single/small number of Brown Long-eared bats. A cool tower was built by VBG with the intention of enhancing the site for bats whilst respecting the Schedule 1 building, therefore the structure had to be separated from the structure of the building and not be of 'permanent' nature to conform with CADWR's requirements. The cool tower was built using the design in the Lesser Horseshoe Bat Conservation Handbook by the Vincent Wildlife Trust.

Early last summer we found droppings in areas of the cool tower that were visible, indicating summer use but failed to see any actual bats due to the design of the cool tower making it difficult to see inside. However, thanks to Steve's long arms, a small gap in the bricks and the zoom function on one of our endoscopes we were able to capture this footage of three  hibernating Brown long- eared bats and what appeared to be a single Common pipistrelle.

Saturday confirmed that the cool tower is now being used by bats all year round and its success  was very rewarding for the members that put the effort into the building and monitoring of the site. The pint in the pub that followed was well deserved.

As always thank you to everyone that turned up and thanks to our Chair for leading!

Cyfarthfa Park Tree Surveys

Despite the snow, VBG managed to get out for their first event of the year yesterday, tree surveys at Cyfarthfa Park with Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. 

The main purpose of the event was to mark and produce a map of those trees with high bat potential and to show/ inform the Head Gardener at Cyfarthfa Park what to look out for with regards to potential bat roost features in trees, and what is likely to be required before any work on these trees can take place. It was also a great opportunity for members to refresh/learn new skills whilst enjoying a walk around the park in the snow.

A number of suitable trees were identified and marked

and many of them were checked with an endoscope. 

Later in the day the group were provided with access to Cyfarthfa Castle itself. It was strange being in an empty school that a few of us had once attended as children.

We even got to climb up into one of the turrets and take a look at the roof!

No bats found but lots of bat potential identified. Oh, and we came across this also, so you know, if any of you haven't paid your subs for this year..............   ;)

All jokes aside, a great day out with VBG and we are all looking forward to going back to do some further exploring in the near future. Thank you to everyone who attended from both MTCBC and VBG and thanks to our secretary Aislinn for leading.

                                                          Even Ernie had a great time! 

Details of the next event will be sent out shortly. See you all soon! Beth.

Taf Fechan Winter Bat Box Checks

So today Valleys Bat Group set out to check the bat boxes at Taf Fechan Nature Reserve, a joint effort with The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.

This was the first box check since they were put up last summer by the trust, so we were all eager to find out whether they had been successful.

None of the boxes are currently occupied by bats, however 11 of 27 bat boxes showed clear signs of bat usage.

A huge thank you to those that turned up to help out (Steve, Colin, Geri, Carys & Amie),  especially  to Carys  for showing us around the reserve. It was great to meet our newest member Steve Shutt and Amie-Beth Sabin who is currently monitoring bat boxes as part of her undergraduate degree at Cardiff University.

As always thanks to our Chair GT for overseeing the checks and for his endless supply of entertainment in the form of accents and witty remarks...mainly at my expense! Although after today I think Steve may give you a run for your money! 

All in all a successful day and it should be interesting to find out what our spring checks present us with.

Beth