Bat photography

[battyaboutbats]

Im looking for some advice on bat photography and wondered if anyone can help me please♥

Is it illegal in this country to take pictures of bats at night using a flash? Hubby is a amateur photographer and mentioned in passing to someone that it must be really difficult to take a pic as they move so fast & was told that you are not allowed.


TIA
Carol

[nightshade]

Bearing in mind the laws relating to the protection of Bats there is no reason not to take the odd snap, but persistent flash photography could bring about a degree of stress to these unique mammals that anyone with a conscience would be unwilling to countenance

[thunder]

There is no harm in taking flash pictures of bats flying at night, as long as it isn't in close proximity to their roost.

henrya

[derelict]

Well I'm glad it's not illegal because I've had a go - the problem is really 'where is the bat?' Last autumn I fired off some shots with the point-and-pray digicam on a woodland path that had a bat persistently flying up and down it and on a couple of the shots you could see a small brown blob and on one of them a little face. But it was random stuff. I mentioned it to a pro animal photographer and he talked about using things called beam splitters...

I was thinking about this the other evening when I was being buzzed by a bat that I became increasingly convinced was feeding off insects moving on the woodland floor. The problem that night was that I wasn't exactly in a position to fire off a load of flashes because I was watching something else going on. I know bats can feed off water surfaces but the woodland floor wasn't exactly flat and must play merry hell with the old sonar... It was certainly making short bursts of clicking noises - but I don't think I can pick up the high frequency stuff anymore.

[The Woodman]

The 3rd editon of the Bat Workers Manual states, "Licences may only be issued specifically for bat photography where there is a special case for doing so.....The welfare of the bats must be the prime consideration at all times".
A Natural Engalnd licenced bat worker may take photographs as an incidental part of licenced conservation or scientific work where no additional disturbance is caused.
Casual photography could be interpreted as "deliberately disturbing bats" i.e. an offence.

Be careful.

[thunder]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

The 3rd editon of the Bat Workers Manual states, "Licences may only be issued specifically for bat photography where there is a special case for doing so.....The welfare of the bats must be the prime consideration at all times".
A Natural Engalnd licenced bat worker may take photographs as an incidental part of licenced conservation or scientific work where no additional disturbance is caused.
Casual photography could be interpreted as "deliberately disturbing bats" i.e. an offence.

Be careful.

That only refers to photographing bats in the hand, or at rest. Photographing bats flying free away from their roosts will not cause disturbance.

henrya

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by thunder

That only refers to photographing bats in the hand, or at rest. Photographing bats flying free away from their roosts will not cause disturbance.

henrya

I clarified this point with NE before setting forth on my project to photograph bats this summer ( i'm trying to get a sequence of daubenton feeding behavior - however i digress) and in essence they said exactly the same as henry (although they took the best part of a page to say it)

flash and shutter activation will not cause any disturbance to bats so long as it is away from their roost and not at too close a range (in fact they may quite like it as a hot flash will attract insects.

In answer to the original question of how. the best bet is to pick an area away from other light sources where bats are feeding (such as over water on a still night) prefocus on the likely area with a fairly small f stop to give a decent dof, and lock the camera open on a long exposure or on the bulb setting - then fire the flash gun to take the picture , or use a strobe if you have one handy - a bat detector is also handy in letting you know when a bat is in shot.

The use of beam splitters (where the shutter/flash is triggered when a laser/IR beam is broken) only works when you can predict the flight path - not the best for feeding bats. This approach could be used to photograph them on emergence from the roost , but that does require a licence which is unlikely to be granted without good reason.

[The Woodman]

I have heard NE's interpretation, but I'm personally not convinced that flash does not disturb bats.

Occassional "one-off" flash shots may not appear to disturb bats, but if they are on a regular foraging route or in a area used for foraging, they can quickly dissapear. The same effect can be seen when shining a bright light across the surface of a river or pond to see Daubies, you'll see them immediately if they're there, but they soon get scarce.

How is disturbance measured?

[battyaboutbats]

Thanks everyone for your replies!

After reading the posts and obviously not wanting to cause any form of distress to these wonderful creatures, I shall tell hubby not to.

Thanks again♥

Carol

[diggleken]

Carol, thats a good decision, although I would still feel comfortable in taking a few pictures, but not in any continuous or intrusive way which would disturb them.
And again to go back to your original question - a fairly simple method even with digital is to prefocus, with flash on, at a spot where they regularly pass (gettting and setting the equivalent distance by prefocussing on a wall or tree etc), by the first press of the shutter button, hold that, then wait in half light until they can just be seen to pass that equivalent distance you have prefocussed for and then fully press the shutter button. You can 'pan' them as they fly by or hold still. The flash will freeze them. Slightly hit and miss but you can get reasonable ID shots.
Dont overdo it though.
Hope this helps further.