bat corridors

[nightshade]

Removing trees and shrubs seems to be becoming a pastime,this practice to make gardening easier,is making life difficult for many creatures by removing food sources and highways or corridors for nocturnal animal movement
Recently however the local duchy of cornwall farms have been planting trees and shrubs to extend the range of Baths long eared bats
I offered to trim hedges and shrubs for neighbours this starts a conversation about wildlife and i try to get my point across, many are happy to help (and i do not do a lot of trimming either)
Try it keep the corridors open see the birds and other creatures come in,you may even be lucky and get some bats

[nightshade]

could we organise a Plant a Hedge Week or similar,Plant a Wildlife Support-Shrub for instance
this is the time of year to do it,bare root plants are cheap if you look for them on the net.hazel,hawthorn,blackthorn,alder,dogwood, goatwillow,spindle,elder(the posh blacklace would grace any garden) and field maple whoops and buddlehia
these plants would cost around 80p each ,a general search for native hedging
will throw up plenty of suppliers,such as www.thegarden.co.uk just as an instance
schools, private gardens, all sorts of places would benefit with the increase in wildlife, birds, bees,lots to occupy children
talk to local wildlife groups councils,neighbours,cajole, bully,get planting

[Tragus]

Brilliant idea Nightshade

I was very lucky to be given Hawthorn and Blackthorn to use as screening for a Badger sett that was quite exposed in an area where I used to live a few years ago. I actually was cheeky enough to ask the local council and they supplied 10 of each quite willingly.

As for conservation and bats, I live in a forest managed by the Forestry Commission and recently they have been felling trees as part of a regeneration of the forest back to mixed broadleaf, although it seems as though they are stripping areas bare, they are replanting and are conscious of the need for area's to be left for bats and rarer nesting birds.
Now all I need to do is to encourage them to do some repairs to a lake to encourage Daubentons into the area

Edited to add.... Here's a site that may be worth looking at
http://www.planetark.com/campaignspa.../3/story.htm#2

Tragus

[nightshade]

While you are all busy improving your wildlife gardens or badgering the town or county councils to plant more wildlife friendly hedges or bat corridors,
with Christmas coming why not put up a bat box?
Plans are available on the web from most bat groups or the bat conservation trust to make your own, or www.alana ecology.com who sell the best ,the schwegler woodcrete boxes these when correctly positioned have a very high occupancy rate,and last almost indefinitely
put up now they could be used as roosts as the bats emerge in april /may