Batty New Year – 8Jan25

Posted on by somersetbatgroup in Bat News, SBG Events, SBG News, SBG Newsletter

We hope everyone had a very festive holidays, and we would like to wish all members a very batty new year.

In this Somerset Bat Group Newsletter we have:

Our 2025 Events

We are currently working on our program of events for the coming year, and hope to publish the full list in our next newsletter at the end of Jan. Expect it to include the usual mix of:

  • Trapping and Radio tracking in our grey long-eared project
  • Bat Box Checks
  • Community engagement via our Big Bat Counts
  • Bat Walks
  • Batty Talks .. etc, etc.

However, we would also like to ask, what would you like to see your bat group organise? Perhaps….

  • More Training courses?
  • Practical workshops? for example a Bat Detector Building workshop?
  • More Bat talks and meetings? Online? or in person?
  • Perhaps … something else we have not thought of …!

Please do email us, and let us know what you would be interested in.

Bat Group Winter Talks

A reminder of the exciting Bat Group talks coming up soon.

7PM Thu 23 Jan ’25 – Connecting People and Landscapes – Bechstein’s and Bat Care

In the face of climate change, we need landscape-scale changes and evidence-based research to protect our mammal species. Simeon Johnson and Beth Gillie will be talking about their work on Bechstein’s Bats and Bat Care Records, and how they can help us understand climate change.

7PM Thu 27 Feb ’25 – Disco Bats and Glittery Poo

James Shipman will be talking about monitoring the populations of soprano pipistrelles over the last 10+ years in West Berkshire using UV powder.
He may also mention his newly released book – “Identifying bats of Britain and Ireland“

Full details of how to join both on the website: https://somersetbat.group/events/

We need a new secretary!

Looking for a New years resolution? Why not become the Secretary of the bat group! You can find out all about this important role here.

This role might be suitable for one person, or perhaps a job share. If one person was interested in the socials and communication (email/web) side of the role, it could easily be split with another person. As a bonus, anyone who holds one of the SBG officer posts for a year (or more) automatically becomes a honorary lifetime member of the Bat Group, for free.

If you are interested, please do email us – somersetbatgroup@gmail.com

BatChat Podcast From Somerset

Just in case you haven’t heard it yet, the BCT BatChat podcast episode recorded in Somerset on our grey long-eared project (S6E59) was released on December 11th. Listen on this link below:

You can listen to all past BatChat episodes here:

A personal favourite is Dr Bob Stebbings talking about The History of Bat Conservation (S4E54).

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL time

The majority of bat group members last paid their membership in the first part of 2024, hence it is now time for most to renew your membership. We will send an email to each member detailing your current membership status, so please check your inbox (and spam).

It costs just £5 per household to rejoin the bat group (free for students/unwaged), and your renewed membership would then run until our 2026 AGM, on 18th April 2026.

For regular members, you might like to consider taking out lifetime membership, which is just £50 per household.

Please pay your membership subs by BaCs or Paypal. Then:

Full details on our website: https://somersetbat.group/join/

Bat Group Bulletin

This month’s BCT Bat Group Bulletin includes includes news of updated field hygiene guidance for hibernation surveys

Apologies for the delay in getting this bulletin to you, caused by the holiday season.
You can see all past bulletins on our website: