Brown Long-eared Bat, Hurn, Dorset, 28/09/13 (Dominic Couzens)
There’s nothing quite like a good autumnal dose of bat-box checking. Last Saturday I enjoyed a trip to Hurn (near Bournemouth International Airport) to see what was lurking in their boxes. As it turned out, a lot was. The Brown Long-eared Bat was a first for the site, and it’s always fun to see these “ears with bats attached” as Chris, bat-ringing trainee, commented. The other boxes were pretty much replete with Soprano Pipistrelles, of which there were about 10 in all. This species has the distinction of
Soprano Pipistrelle, Hurn, Dorset, 28/09/13 (Dominic Couzens)
being Britain’s smallest bat, usually very slightly more minute than the Common Pipistrelle, but both could fit in a matchbox as long as their wings were closed. Jan Freeborn, from the Dorset Bat Group, was delighted when we found a re-trap (a bat previously ringed), again the first from here. Meanwhile, we had a discussion about distinguishing the two almost identical Pipistrelles. Apparently they have different wing venation, and the Soprano Pipistrelle has several bodily parts that are orange or yellow, at least in the breeding season. One is the buccal glands, in the mouth, but for reason of decorum I will leave the others, dear readers, to your imagination.