Aims

Our project aimed to improve our understanding of bat distribution and activity, by providing an opportunity for anyone to take advantage of recent advances in technology for automating the capture and analysis of acoustic data for bats. We conducted bat surveys across Norfolk and parts of Suffolk.

Method

To achieve this, we set up a number of Bat Monitoring Centres in these areas, from which the public could borrow equipment for a few days to take part in the survey. In return, we let participants know what species were recorded.

Duration

The survey season ran from mid May until the end of September. The survey required three different points (ideally at least 200 meters apart) to be surveyed, ideally on consecutive nights within a 1 km square (read more under our survey methods).

Results to date

786 1-km squares (15% of Norfolk) were surveyed for bats between 2013 and 2018. This comprises 2,653 complete nights of recording, which has resulted in the collection and analyses of over half a million bat recordings from across the county.

Further reading

• Learn more about BTO's cutting-edge acoustic monitoring tool, the BTO Acoustic Pipeline.
• Newson, S.E., Ross-Smith, V., Evans, I., Harold, R., Miller, R. & Barlow, K. 2014. Bat-monitoring: a novel approach. British Wildlife 25, 264-269.
• Large-scale citizen science improves assessment of risk posed by wind farms to bats in southern Scotland
• Potential for coupling the monitoring of Bush-crickets with established large-scale acoustic monitoring of bats
• A novel citizen science approach for large-scale standardised monitoring of bat activity and distribution, evaluated in eastern England
• Bat-monitoring: a novel approach