Daubenton's Bat - Myotis doubentoni

[glsammy]

My midday bat pictures created a lot of interest so I contacted The Bat Conservation Trust to see how unusual this behaviour was. I got this reply from Philip Briggs Bat Monitoring Co-ordinator.

Bats do occasionally feed during the day, usually on mild winter days when they will briefly awake from hibernation and will have more chance of finding insects flying around in the relative warmth of the day than at dusk. In early spring bats will still be in a state of semi-hibernation plus the night temperatures can be quite low, so it's not surprising that you spotted this behaviour as late as last week.

Not so unusual after all, but still unusual to get images of this behaviour..
Just to try and convey the size of the bat, I've included a full frame shot, without cropping.

[nightshade]

I do nothing,or so it seems, except envy other peoples pictures.This is a beautiful shot
what led up to you being in the area,were you tipped off ?

[glsammy]

No, it was purely by chance. It's a regular walk we go at Attenborough, only for the first time I decided to walk at the Rivers edge, rather than the footpath, and there it was, swooping over the river. Have you seen the enlarged images in the Gallery?

[nightshade]

Glsammy these are superb images, thankyou for telling me,nearly as good as being there

[glsammy]

My pleasure. Nothing beats sharing moments like this.

[Fourwings]

Those bat images are without doubt the best and most natural bat photos that I've seen to date, even my wife was impressed and that takes some doing!!

It was just one of those rare experiences that occur from time to time, most of the time we witness them wishing we'd had a camera with us, luckily for us, you had yours with you.

[glsammy]

Thanks Steve, much appreciated. No one was more pleased than me! First the Owl & Jay, now the bat! Must be doing something right...