I've got a cave named after me. Near Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire. (Will's Cave).

‘Bat accelerator’ unlocks new clues to how these animals navigate Bats use echolocation to get around, but it wasn’t clear how these creatures managed to navigate dense environments—until now

#ProcB in @sciam.bsky.social | Acoustic flow velocity manipulations affect the flight velocity of free-ranging pipistrelle bats: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

🧵Today I visited soggy Savernake Forest, deep in the heart of Wiltshire. It was to record Open Country, a Radio 4 programme. 🌳 My segment, well it was the forest ghostlore of course! 👻 And there’s plenty of stories in those dark and ancient woods.
Blog coming soon.
Here’s a preview thread…🧵

Some of the fun, and frankly weird, stuff found during bats surveys this month with @wiltsbatgroup.bsky.social. #caving #bats 🦇

Thank you Fiona! Every year for 25 odd years (excepting Covid)! Here's to many more. Will P
@batconservation.bsky.social

More underground hibernation surveys, more wondering where to go, more data collected for the Greater horseshoe project (all licenced), more catching up with old friends, more trying to avoid wet feet. 25 yrs and counting.
@batconservation.bsky.social
@wiltsbatgroup.bsky.social

As we draw to the end of the year, a big pat on the back to our 300 members. Wherever you are, in the country or overseas, you are doing great things locally and nationally for Bat conservation. Take a bow. More science stuff in 2026
@batconservation.bsky.social

🦇A new episode of our podcast, BatChat, is out now - The Hoffman Kiln: Where Bats Reclaim the Dales.

North of Settle in the Yorkshire Dales lies the Hoffman Kiln, a relic of the industrial revolution. It's now an important site for bats of the Dales all year round.

An unexpected reaction to climate change: Daubenton's bats are hibernating for longer The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are dropping. Numerous animals are migrating south, others are seeking their hibernacula—including bats.

Daubenton's bats are now entering hibernation a month earlier than 13 years ago without increasing fat reserves, highlighting shifting survival challenges linked to climate change. doi.org/g955mn

A sew-on patch featuring one large bat and several small ones in front of a full moon.

I’m too old and too male to be in the Rainbows, but as a result of some volunteering / educational outreach we did a couple of weeks ago on behalf of the @wiltsbatgroup.bsky.social I am now the very proud owner of a Rainbows “Bat activity” patch. It is deeply excellent.

Ooh ooh ooh - TK Maxx in Swindon, a single pair of the most PERFECT wireless headphones for folks to use with Bat Detector on their iPhone. So anyone in the @wiltsbatgroup.bsky.social needs to get a move on to secure them - I left them REALLY visible :)

Throwing bats under the train: HS2’s bat tunnel and the dangerous spin behind deregulation - News - Bat Conservation Trust HS2's so-called bat tunnel has become a political scapegoat, used to justify rolling back environmental protections. But the real story is very different. This page breaks down what the bat tunnel is,...

Who had the idea to build the expensive HS2 bat tunnel? Answer: HS2 Ltd. Who approved it? Parliament. Was it necessary to route the track through species-rich ancient woodland? No, as a strategic environmental assessment would have shown, had one been done. www.bats.org.uk/news/2025/04...

At the National Bat Conference we shared the trailer for season 7 of our podcast, BatChat. And now we get to share it with you all!

Returning on the 5 November.

@batconservation.bsky.social
@wiltsbatgroup.bsky.social
Using the right tags would help 🦇

@batconservation.bsky.social

While I'm on it, here is a round flat wasp nest in schwegler 1FF (not seen that before)
Noctule
Soprano pip wing
Jools and Anna doing box checks in the Cotswold Water park
@bct @wiltsbg

The Shire is wet for the first time in 4 months! The land is sighing as the moisture is sucked up. To celebrate here are a few random pics from the summer.
Brandt's (bat of the year! )
Brown long eared
Bechstein's
Natterer's
@bct @wiltsbg

Listen! Rare Grey long-eared bat found in Kent, 40 years after last one seen. Only 9 known maternity colonies in UK. 👏 Mountfield Ecology & @ecotypegenetics.bsky.social. Here's one I found a few weeks ago 🦇 @batconservation.bsky.social @mammalconeurope.bsky.social @mammalsociety.bsky.social

Acoustic romance in old church attics: Greater mouse-eared bats display lek mating system In the darkness of old church attics, surprisingly romantic scenes take place as male greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis), the largest native bat species in Europe, compete for the attention of f...

2025. Acoustic romance in old church attics: Greater mouse-eared bats display lek mating system phys.org/news/2025-06...

This is male Bechstein's J19405. Typically for young males at this time of year, evicted (under duress by the state of his ear) from the maternal home and banished to the 'man shed' equivalent on the edge of the wood. Braydon forest, Wiltshire, May 2025.

Two extremely realistic 3D printed bat skulls in front of an educational poster featuring UK bat.

These totally brilliant 5x life-sized 3D printed bat skulls are by www.nobone.be, on display at the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust's excellent Country Comes to Town day in Chippenham.

How will bats respond to climate change? Our new paper shows that Nathusius's pipistrelles are likely to expand their European range, but most other bats will lose out. Things look particularly bad for the pond bat, which is already declining rapidly. 🌍🦇#bats #climatechange doi.org/10.1111/cobi...

How Do Bats Find Artificial Roosts?

Surprisingly, our study found that bats' previous experience with artificial roosts mattered more than enhanced detectability!

Read more in our new paper!
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Photo by Anja Bergmann

🦇 In our latest blog, our CEO @kitstoner.bsky.social , reflects on the latest developments of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill: rhetoric vs reality on nature and development; read it here and share widely: batconservationtrust.substack.com/p/the-planni...

Super review, on point.

🦇The Vincent Weir Scientific Award aims to reward and encourage research on the conservation biology of bats by new researchers.

Applications for the Vincent Weir Scientific Award are now open!

Nominations will close on Monday 30 June.

A local mag, The Village Buzz, asked me for a ghost story. Given where we live, I felt it had to be the story of Black Molly of Pyt House.
It's a curious tale of a pregnant maid servant, a skeleton in the basement and a family curse.
Read the full story here: weird-wiltshire.co.uk/2024/03/17/b...

Diverse but declining? Population genetic structure and genetic diversity of Nathusius’ pipistrelle along the Dutch coastline during the autumn migration period - Mammalian Biology Migratory bats are experiencing substantial increases in mortality risk from wind energy developments, but data on their migratory behavior and population dynamics are often lacking. Here, we develop ...

Nathusius’ pipistrelle 🦇 is quite a remarkable species, an 8g fluffball that can migrate over 2000km across Europe. In our new paper, we use population genetics to learn a bit more about this amazing creature. (🧵 1/6)
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I'm posting this photo of Greater horseshoe bats because I just think it is one of the best I've seen! 🦇 (Photo credit Laura Pratt) taken in a Wiltshire mine Feb 2025. Anyway, now to do a bit of bat box maintenance and wait for the sun to shine.
P.S. It snowed in the Shire today🦇

Huge poisonous snake spotted on Dartmoor The rare sighting of a venomous black adder has prompted warnings to dog owners and families

Dartmoor's becoming a scary place folks. If the rampaging wild boar don't get you, this 'poisonous' snake surely will. Wildlife in a National Park? Unthinkable. @arc-trust.bsky.social

#wildlife #nature
www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymout...