A sighting of a Serotine bat in Gooderstone

The evening of Saturday 22^nd of August saw us outside St George’s Church, a large Norman building situated in the middle of the small village of Gooderstone. First before the beginning of the walk, we set up the moth trap at the end of the churchyard, in order to catch some of the moths  (bat food) that were flying around that evening. Once everything was set up, we met up with the local residents who had shown an interest and had booked themselves on the walk.

Our route that evening was down Clark’s Lane, a road that took us past the River Gadder. It was well vegetated and had open pastureland and grassland on each side. This kind of habitat was why we chose this route, as bats like noctules have shown a preference for open habitats and pipistrelles a preference for commuting and foraging along habitat edges, along hedgerows, over water, and in suburban gardens.

As we headed towards the small bridge over the River Gadder, we heard our first bat, a common pipistrelle. This was swiftly followed by a soprano pipistrelle. The clearing in the vegetation above gave us a fantastic view against the sky and there we saw both pipistrelle species circling around.

Note: When heading out on a bat walk on your own in a well vegetated area like a woodland, clearings in the canopy above are generally good places to stop, as there is a good chance that you will see and hear bats flying overhead.

Moving on down Clark’s Lane, we stopped at a metal gate overlooking some pastureland, containing a few horses. It was here we heard our first noctule, one of our larger species of bats living in Britain. The noctule bat is generally one of the first bats to emerge, coming out approximately 5 – 10 minutes after sunset and sometimes beforehand. 5 minutes later, whilst waiting for the noctule bat to reappear, a member of our group pointed out what seem like a large size bat flying above our heads. The size, the broad shape of the wings and its slow flight indicated that this bat was possibly a serotine, rather than a noctule. Closer inspection of the sonogram on the Echo Meter Touch showed a peak frequency of 27kHz and further analysis later on of the data from the Anabat detector that was recording, has confirmed that we were lucky enough to hear and see a serotine bat. Luckily, for us that evening, the serotine bat continued to fly around and above our heads for a few minutes giving us ample time to enjoy it. An awesome experience for all involved.

On our way back to the church to check the moth trap we continued to hear both common and soprano pipistrelle bats. When we reached the trap we noticed that there were a few moths flying around. Excited with what we would find, we delved further into the trap and found a variety of moths. These included a few orange swifts, a couple of large yellow underwings, a willow beauty, a flounced rustic, a mother of pearl, a couple of straw dots, a dark spinach and a flame shoulder.

Flame Shoulder 
A widespread and abundant species of moth. The name is derived from the straw coloured
streak running along the leading edges of the forewings. Flies around from
April to September, peaking during May, June and August. The larva feeds on a wide
variety of herbaceous plants like Groundsel and Ribwort Plantain. Can be found in
gardens, farmland, grasslands, woodland, wetlands and hedgerows. 

Large Yellow Underwing
A common and widespread moth. Flies around from June to November, peaking in
late August/early September. At larval stage its food plants are a range of
herbaceous plants and grasses, including Dock, Marigolds, Foxgloves and Annual
Meadow-grass. Can be found in a variety of different habitats, including gardens,
woodlands and lowland grassy habitats. 

Orange Swift
The adults are unable to feed as they don't have a functional proboscis. The
males tend to brighter than the females, orange brown in colour with two
distinctive dark-edged white diagonal lines running along the forewings. Flies
around from late June until early September and can be found in habitats like
gardens, roadside verges, woodland rides and general rough grassy areas. The
larval food plants are the roots of various herbaceous plants such as
Broad-leaved Dock, Dandelion, Bracken and some grasses. 

Mother of Pearl 
A common and widespread micro moth. The sheen on its wings is how it got its
name. Found in habitats like gardens, waste grounds, woodland and hedgerows,
showing a preference for nettle patches, during the day. Best time to see this moth
is from mid June until October. The larval food plants are Nettles, Wych Elm and
English Elm.