What is the best time to see my resident bats emerge?

[julia.julibob]

We have bats (probably pipistrelle) roosting under the tiles on the front of our 60's semi! They have come out of hibernation (poo all over our green bin, under where they are roosting). I went out at dusk last night (about 8.05pm), and was too late to see them emerge as they were already flying.

Does anyone have a good guage for me to know what time they might emerge, so I can catch it on camera?

Here is a pic of where they are roosting, notice the poo stuck to the tiles.



Julia

[thunder]

Your bats were early risers yesterday - I can only suggest you go out at, say, 7.30 and see if you can catch them. It is not a good idea to take photographs using flash directly outside the roost entrance - it may disturb them enough to disrupt their emergence pattern for the night.

henrya

[ron1863]

Julia, I think you are having some problem uploading photographs. When I click on your bat shot I get the message "image not found in the database" . Have you resized them correctly. Lots of new members have problems uploading at first but soon get the hang of it.
Bats often come out a good while before dusk so you will just have to keep an eye open at different times.

[julia.julibob]

I have been having problems with my images, so here it is posted again, and I hope that I have it right for once.



I would not use a flash on the bats. My camera has a very good focus in poor light.

Julia

[The Woodman]

Hi Julia
Pips usually emerge around sunset.

To find sunset where you live, go onto the Metcheck website and type in your postcode in the box near the top of the page. Details of S/s, S/r will be shown. Bats don't read the books so allow a little latitude, 15 mins before to one hour after sunset usually sees all the bats out. They're usually quite vocal before emerging and depending on your hearing ability, it can be possible to hear them chattering socially.

If you can find and hold a position where the camera can easily focus on the gap (tripod) under the tile without causing disturbance to the bats and prevent them from emerging, carefullly watch the gap until you see a bat squeezing it's way out. It all happens very quickly and it's usually a case of pressing the shutter as soon as the bat is at the edge of the tile.

Good luck.

[Blackdogjnr]

First bat of the year in our garden last night at 8.20 just as it was getting dark

[julia.julibob]

I am so excited, we could lust see the fur of the bats under the tile yesterday evening. I sat in my car for ages and waited for them to emerge, but eventually gave up as I was cold. I will try again tonight.

I am sure they are Pipistrelle, but cannot be too sure. Is there any way of identifying them from the poo that is stuck all over our wheelie bins? I really would love to know exactly what they are.

Any ideas?

Julia

[thunder]

It is possible to get an idea of the bat species from the droppings - but rarely a 100% certain identification. You need to collect a reasonable sample - I always used to say "about a matchbox full". If you care to collect that amount to send to me, send me a PM!

henrya