Where do bats go in winter? Yes, this and other batty thoughts have been going through my mind as I spent the last half hour of twilight sat watching the local Smithy Brook bats flitting amongst the trees.
Bat watching is one of my regular summer pleasures. That last half hour of half light after sunset but before proper darkness falls, always sees the skies around Smithy Brook come alive with bats. Well in the summer months anyway.
I’ve no idea where our local bats roost. In fact I don’t even know which kind of bats we have. According to The West Yorkshire Bat Group it could be one of eight species, the Brandt’s Bat, the Brown Long Eared Bat, the Common Pipistrelle, Daubentons Bat, Leislers Bat, Nathusius Pipistrelle, the Noctule Bat, the Soprano Pipistrelle, the Whiskered Bat or even the rare Natterers Bat (apparently West Yorkshire is a hot spot for this rare in the UK species). As I’ve never seen one of our bats up close their identity remains a mystery. I’d rather like to keep it this way as I guess I’ll only ever come face to face with one if it’s in trouble.
Apparently bats hibernate in winter. This of course makes perfect sense. There’s not much point them flying around burning energy when their insect food source is none existent. This also explains why they suddenly appear each spring as the nights draw out and the insect population starts flying again.
For me, long days in the garden are my summer pleasure. As evening approaches I rarely want my day to end, finding one job after another to keep me outside as long as possible. Usually as the sun sets and darkness starts to fill the sky I end my day with a cup of coffee and a good half an hour of bat watching. Small pleasures that make life worthwhile.
