It’s the busy time of the year for the bat group, with lots of events running and things going on.
In this May Bat Group Newsletter:
- Read all about what happened at our 2026 Annual Meeting
- Start of the Bat Box Check Season
- The first Big Bat Count of the year was another packed out event in Frome!
- Another successful Wildlife Trust promoted Bat Detector workshop
- News that reform of the Natural England Bat Advice Service is placed on pause
- Your next Bat Group events
- Request for help with research into Leisler’s and Nathusius’ pipistrelle
- An invitation to Heal’s rewilding festival – Into the Light (discount included)
- The latest BCT Bat Group Bulletin includes an appeal for more NBMP roost surveyors
- A reminder that 2025 members memberships lapsed at the recent Annual Meeting
Bat Group Annual meeting
A lively meeting was held in Othery Village Hall. Thank you to everyone who contributed!
Full details are in the 2026 Bat Group annual meeting Minutes and Accounts, however amongst the many things discussed were:
- Plans for more Somerset grey long-eared trapping this year, and a potential £1.2 million BCT regional GLE project possibly coming later in the year.
- We have new Bat Group officers. Welcome to Liz Walsh as Secretary, and Keith Ball as Treasurer and Membership Secretary
- A new award of honorary lifetime membership of the group was created to recognise an “outstanding contribution” to bat conservation. Daniel Hargreaves was nominated as the first recipient.
Start of the Bat Box Check Season
The first bat box checks have started, in what likes looks it’s going to be a very busy season.
Josh was leading a small group around Kings Castle Woods near Wells, with the aim of inspecting the current boxes, and erecting 12 new ones. Ash dieback has had a huge impact at the top of the wood, hence the challenge was finding accessible trees to place the new boxes on.
The team was pleased to find a Soprano Pipistrelle using one of the Schwegler 1FF boxes.
The Bat group is very grateful to St Cuthbert (Out) Parish Council, for funding these new boxes, and to Jim Scott from Croscombe who made twelve adapted 2.5 chamber Kent style boxes from locally sourced Cedar, at a very good price.
A packed out Frome Big Bat Count
Frome never fails to disappoint, and we had another fully booked Big Bat Count, with many people new to bats. So around 60 people in 11 teams set off into a warm still night. Our thanks once again to Jo from Frome Town Council for superb organising.
A total of 138 bat observations were made across 11 Species. The two Pipistrelle species were again the most commonly seen, then Serotine and Noctule. There were a couple of Greater Horseshoes recorded, but only one added as an observation. As usual the EMT’s auto IDed a number of Leisler’s (lesser Noctule), but these usually turn out to be noise or Serotines after verification.
Initial unverified observations from the night of 1st May 2026 are in iNaturalist:
SWT Taunton Bat Detector Workshops
Another successful Bat Detector Building workshop was held at the Wildlife Trust HQ in Taunton.
The morning saw 9 people building the mini Pipistrelle auto tuning detector. While in the afternoon a smaller group tackled the recording PippyG (audiomoth alike) and the π•pistrelle handheld recorder. It turned into a very successful day with 11 out of 12 mini Pipistrelles made, working first time.
Due to the demand from Wildlife Trust members, two new workshops have been booked at the Avalon Marshes Centre on the 4th July. Full details are on our events page
If interested, full details about how our workshops work, and how to organise one for your group, are on our website.
Natural England Bat Advice Service
The BCT sent us the following important update:
Natural England has let us know that it has decided not to launch a digital Bat Advice Service this year. The helpline and Volunteer Bat Roost Visitor (VBRV) model will continue beyond April 2027, and a new open tender process for a Bat Advice Services (BAS) helpline will begin later this year. VBRV roles remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.
Update on the Bat Advice Service
Natural England has now completed their preliminary review of the BAS and has decided not to move forward with a new digital system at this time. Instead, the current helpline‑based approach will continue beyond the end of March 2027.
As the long‑standing provider of the BAS helpline, the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) will continue to deliver this service over the coming year as planned. We remain committed to ensuring that anyone who needs help with bats receives clear, expert advice, and that volunteers are supported in the vital work they do.
What this means for householders and places of worship
The BAS helpline will continue to be the first point of contact for anyone seeking advice about bats. Our team will carry on arranging site visits by trained VBRVs whenever they are needed. The service they will receive will remain the same.
What this means for volunteers
Natural England has confirmed that the VBRV role will continue unchanged for the foreseeable future. The planned VBRV survey and working group linked to the proposed digital system will not go ahead, as they are no longer required. We will continue to work closely with Natural England to ensure volunteers have the information and support they need.
Looking ahead
In line with government procurement rules, Natural England will invite tenders for the BAS helpline contract for the period from April 2027. BCT will be eligible to apply, and we will keep our community updated as this process develops. Whatever the outcome, Natural England has stated that there will continue to be a BAS helpline to support both the public and volunteers.
The National Bat Helpline
The BAS contract is a significant part of the National Bat Helpline, but it is far from the entirety of the work the Helpline team undertakes. BCT remains committed to providing our wider helpline services including the Volunteer Bat Care Helpline and the UK Bat Care Network. We are grateful to the support of all our VBCH volunteers and all those who register with us as bat carers to take calls from members of the public who have found grounded and injured bats.
Thank you
We want to thank everyone (including our own helpline staff team) who has contributed feedback during this time. Our combined insights have been invaluable to Natural England, and your dedication to bat conservation continues to make a real difference.
Natural England will continue to review the BAS in future years to plan further reforms. You can read more on an updated blog published by Natural England today.
If you would like to share your thoughts on Natural England’s decision, they welcome feedback at: BatAdviceService.Feedback@naturalengland.org.uk (please note that they are unable to respond individually). Please do direct your feedback to Natural England at the address above rather than the National Bat Helpline team or the Bat Groups Officer.
Thank you again for all your support.
Best wishes, Dan Bryant, BCT Bat Groups Officer
The next Bat Group Events
There are lots of things planned, so come along and get involved! The next events are:
- Sun 10th May – Levels bat box checks
- Tues 12th May – Axevale Big Bat Count
- Sat 16th May – Ham Wall bat box checks
- Sat 16th May – Shepton Beauchamp Big Bat Count
- Tues 19th May – Heal Rewilding Big Bat Count
- Sun 24th May – Great Breach Woods bat box checks
- Thurs 28th May – Bat Walk for Green Ilminster
- Fri 5th June – Highbridge Big Bat Count
- Mon 8th June – Berrow Big Bat Count
Details of how to get involved for all events are on the website: https://somersetbat.group/events/
Leisler’s and Nathusius’ pipistrelle research
The bat group received the following request for help from the BCT:
I am writing to enquire whether your group is currently monitoring, or planning to monitor, any roosts of Leisler’s bat (Nyctalus leisleri) or Nathusius’ pipistrelle (Pipistrellus nathusii) during the upcoming field season.
We are currently working on a collaborative research project with Atlantic Technological University Ireland focusing on these species and their migratory movements, and are keen to engage with local bat groups in the UK. As part of this work, we are hoping to involve experienced volunteers in assisting with sample collection, where appropriate. This will primarily be fur and droppings samples, but we are also developing a methodology for buccal swabbing. We are currently discussing the licence implications of this type of sampling with the relevant national authorities.
In addition, we would be grateful to know whether your group currently holds, or is aware of, any deceased specimens of these species that may be available for research purposes. This would again just be for sampling purposes and would not need the whole specimen.
I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to connect with your group to learn more about any ongoing monitoring efforts, and to explore potential volunteer involvement.
If your group is involved in relevant work, or if you could kindly direct me to others who may be, I would be very grateful.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes, Dr Jack Hooker, Research Scientist, Bat Coservation Trust
Heal’s rewilding festival – Into the Light
As a fellow local organisation working for nature, we’d love to invite you and anyone from Somerset Bat Group to Into the Light, our rewilding festival this June at our beautiful Somerset site, near Witham Friary.
Taking place on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th June 2026, this year’s theme is water, celebrating rivers and wetlands through both rewilding and cultural perspectives. This is especially timely as we complete our major wetlands project (with help from some very busy beavers)
Friday is geared towards those in ecology, land management, and anyone with an interest in nature recovery, while Saturday opens up to a wider audience with a greater focus on sharing stories, challenging ideas, asking questions and celebrating the many ways people are making a difference for nature in their own places.
Key speakers include:
- Jack Perks,wildlife cameraman and river conservationist
- James Wallace, chief executive, River Action
- Meg Avon, poet, activist, performance artist
- Minni Jain, director, The Flow Partnership
- Stephen Rutt, author and naturalist
This is the third year of Into the Light and it has proved to be an unforgettable experience, with lots to learn, lots to inspire you and a lot of very nice people to meet. Here’s a taste of what to expect in our Into The Light gallery and more details about this year are here: Into the Light – Heal Somerset
We’re pleased to offer you and your team a 20% discount for the festival. Please use localwildlife20 as the promo code at checkout. Book your place and join us for a weekend of ideas, connection, and inspiration.
Any questions do let me know,
All the best, Katie Ross (she/her), Learning and Sharing Manager, Heal Rewilding
Bat group bulletin
The latest BCT Bat Group Bulletin includes an appeal for more roost surveyors for the National Bat Monitoring Program (NBMP), as the number of roosts surveyed has dropped by a third from its previous peak.
All past editions of the Bulletin can be found on this page of our website:
Membership Renewal time
It’s the time of the year to think about membership of the bat group. There are currently:
- 70 members who last paid membership in 2025, and their membership lapsed at our recent annual meeting
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 April 2027 annual meeting, on 17th April 2027.
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:
- If your details have changed, then complete our online membership form to update your information.
- OR, if nothings changed, simply just drop us an email to let us know you have paid.
Full details on our website: https://somersetbat.group/join/