A project which is working to secure a future for one of Europe’s most endangered bat species has been awarded £707,000 of National Lottery funding.
The Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project, which has received the grant via the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), will now work for the next five years across the county to secure the long term future of one of the rarest animals in Northern Europe. The project is being led by the conservation charity Devon Wildlife Trust in a partnership involving 18 other organisations.
The project’s manager is Ed Parr Ferris: "We’re delighted to...
In celebration of National Moth Night, The Trill Trust and Butterfly Conservation are inviting locals to spend the evening of 11th September at Trill Farm, meeting some of the most secretive night time inhabitants, the moths and bats.
There are around 2500 species of moth in the UK and they are not the butterfly's drab cousin that some people take them for, they are in fact fascinating and beautiful creatures. Bats are the moths nemesis, using their echolocation to catch them for food, but some moths have developed adaptations to try to outwit the bats in an ever evolving arms race...
Viewers of a very different kind of reality TV have been going batty in recent weeks.
People tuning into a live webcam of a greater horseshoe bat roost have seen hundreds of the rare animals appearing on screen at one time.
The bat cam is beaming live pictures around the world from an undisclosed greater horseshoe bat roost in South Devon. The camera was specially installed last winter as part of the Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project – a ifive year Heritage Lottery Funded initiative which is working towards sustaining Devon’s population of these threatened nocturnal...
The future of a population of one of northern Europe’s most threatened wildlife species will be the focus of a High Court action in Bristol on Friday 12 June. The court granted permission for the claim to proceed in April 2014.
The charity Devon Wildlife Trust is bringing the Judicial Review against a planning decision made by Teignbridge District Council to grant permission for up to 230 houses to be built on land which lies just 170 metres from an internationally important site where female greater horseshoe bats congregate to give birth and raise their young. Devon Wildlife...
New research has discredited the popular belief that street lighting is attractive to common bats.
The study, carried out by scientists from the University of Exeter and Bat Conservation Ireland, found that bat activity was generally lower in street-lit areas than in dark locations with similar habitat.
The findings have important implications for conservation, overturning the previous assumption that common bats benefited from street-lights because they could feed on the insects that congregated around them.
The research, published in the journal Philosophical...
Plans for a 12-bed hotel with 38 units of self-catering holiday accommodation at Seaton Heights were last week given the go-ahead by EDDC.
The proposal was initially refused because of objections from Natural England who were concerned about potential interference with bat movements in the area.
A revised plan was submitted, showing a two-metre wide ‘bat corridor’ on the site, which satisfied the requirements of Natural England.
The two-storey hotel building and holiday units, with a central amenities building housing a restaurant and leisure club, plus car parking...
Conservationists have been awarded funding to develop plans to protect a rare species of bat in Devon. The funding secured by Devon Wildlife Trust from the Heritage Lottery Fund for will go towards a project protecting the Greater Horseshoe Bat. The project plan to be developed over the next 12 months by the Greater Horseshoe Bat Partnership could then see a further £750,000 in long-term funding. “In the last century they’ve seen their numbers decline by 90% and Devon and the wider South West, is really the last remaining stronghold for that species.” said Steve Hussey of the Devon...
A tiny bat found in the Netherlands is believed to provide the first direct evidence that British bats migrate over the sea between the UK and mainland Europe.
The bat, a Nathusius’ pipistrelle, flew from Blagdon near Bristol across the country and over the North Sea before settling in a farm building near the coast in Friesland – a direct journey of 596 kilometres (370 miles).
Bat experts in both countries are working together to learn more about this remarkable journey and its implications for bat conservation and offshore windfarms.
Join members of the Exmouth and Bystock Devon Wildlife Trust Local Group for a walk round Bystock nature reserve to discover which bats can be found there.
Bat detectors will be available.
Uneven terrain, so stout footwear required. Don't forget your torch.
Meet at the north reserve entrance (grid ref SY 030 849).
To book your place call 01392 279244 or email contactus@devonwildlifetrust.org
It's that time of year again! EDDC’s Countryside team kick off their annual Wet ’n’ Wild Summer Festival at 8pm on Thursday evening 15 August with Meet the Bats.
The Axe Estuary Wetlands is known as an excellent habitat for bats; more than half of our 17 native species of bat have been found there, including the rarest of our natives; the grey long-eared bat.
Visitors will have the opportunity to learn to use an electronic bat detector to identify the different species. The Meet the Bats session will be repeated on Friday evening 16 August at 8pm.
