Strange noise

[poohbear]

I've just walked my dogs on a country lane in the dark.Very quiet out there but a sound came from an oak tree...not dissimilar to a cricket,but the temperature there is only just above freezing.It sounded like an insect sound and was a matter of six feet away...when I focused my torch it stopped and another could be heard in a nearby hedge.As soon as I shone my torch away the sound came back.The closest I can explain it is like the sound we used to make as kids by fixing a piece of card in the spokes of a bicycle,only quieter.A continuous clicking not stopping until disturbed by the torch.
Any ideas anyone?...considering the temperature and time of year.

[Hedge Witch]

I wonder if it could be a species of bat?

Hearing Bats

[poohbear]

I searched carefully with the torch...it only seemed a few feet away,but couldn't see a thing.

[Hedge Witch]

Ah, so it was something small then, or I guess you would have seen it, poohbear