"Conservation and Ecology Products"

Information and resources for wildlife conservation in the UK

British Bats

Posted by Steve on May 14, 2012 in Bats | 0 comments

Did you know that we have 18 species of bats living here in the UK?

Along with many other UK species, bat populations have been in decline for around 100 years here in the UK, there are a wide range of reasons for this, however they broadly fall into the following categories:

Reduction in Suitable Food – Bats feed on nocturnal flying insects, however development of land and intensive farming practices have reduced the suitable habitat required for them to reproduce, which in turn means there is less available food for bats.
Development – Many species of bats live in the roof of buildings, they roost here and raise their young, however demolition while they are in hibernation or raising young can have disastrous consequences for them.
Light Pollution – Because bats are nocturnal creatures, they dislike illuminated areas, this applies to both their roosting places and where they fly.

There is also emerging evidence that both Wind Turbines and radio waves from mobile phone masts could also be a potential problem.

Types of Bats in the UK

Alcathoe Bat – Has only been confirmed as a resident in the UK since 2010, although this is likely due to it’s similar appearance to other UK bat species, so has probably been resident here much longer.
Barbastelle – A dark bat with large ears and is quite rare.
Bechstein’s Bat – This is one of the most rare species found in the UK, with small known populations in South East Wales and into the south of England.
Brandt’s Bat – Only marginally larger than the Whiskered Bat, with an identical shaggy coat, as a result they were believed to be the same species until the 70′s.
Brown Long Eared – Their large ears give them fantastic hearing and can sometimes be seen flying so close to the ground that they actually pick insects up of foliage on the ground.
Common Pipistrelle – These are the most widespread and common bat in the UK, they fly in a wide range of habitat from open countryside to urban areas and can often be seen feeding at dusk.
Daubenton’s Bat – usually seen around water, they feed within centimeters of the waters surface and have been sighted actually picking prey from the waters surface with their feet.
Greater Horseshoe Bat – So called because of the unusual skin folds around the nose, they often only feed at dusk and dawn, roosting for the remainder of the night, this is one of our largest species of bat in the UK.
Grey Long Eared Bat – A very rare mid sized bat, found only in a few regions in the South of England
Leisler’s Bat – Has unusually long fur, particularly around the shoulders, making it appear similar to a lions mane, they naturally live in woodland and roost in trees, so bat nesting boxes have proved a good substitute where natural holes in trees are no longer available to them.
Lesser Horseshoe – Similar in appearance to the Greater Horseshoe, but smaller in size.
Nathusius’ Pipisterelle – Originally a migratory species, but now known to breed in the UK and although rare, is becoming gradually more common.
Natterer’s Bat – Also known as the Red Armed Bat, due to it’s pink limbs, it flies relatively slowly either over water or through trees, often taking from foliage and includes insects typically seen during the daylight.
Noctule – Known to fly several miles to their feeding grounds, they are one of the largest species in the UK and can fly at up to 50 kph.
Serotine Bat – Prefers to roost in old buildings and churches, this is another of the largest species in the UK and often emerges in good light.
Soprano Pipistrelle – Consuming up to 3000 insects in a single night, the Pipistrelles are an essential element of our environment, the soprano is so called because of it’s much higher frequency echolocation, to hear this you will need a bat detector or recorder.
Whiskered Bat – Feeding for most of the night, the Whiskered Bats fly at up to 20 metres, most commonly found in the North and West of the UK.
Greater Mouse Eared Bat – We have left this one until last and out of alphabetical order, because it was declared extinct in 1990 when the last remaining known male failed to return to is roost. However, in 2001 an emaciated female was found, however she died soon afterwards, but then in 2002 a juvenile male was discovered and has been recorded annually since. If they prove to survive they will be the largest species in the country.

Whilst all our bats are of a relatively similar size, there are over 1,100 species around the world, which is approximately a fifth of all mammals. Some are incredibly small such as the Bumblebee Bat, whilst flying foxes can have a wingspan of two metres.

Conservation

There are over 100 organised groups involved in bat conservation in the UK, if you would like further information The Bat Conservation Trust is a good place to start, they organise a wide range of events, bat walks and population monitoring, you may even get to have a go on an echolocation bat detector.

Or for statistics about populations DEFRA have information available

2012 Wildcare Catalogue

Posted by Steve on May 9, 2012 in Catalogue | 0 comments

Our 2012 catalogue is now available, please either use the contact form for a copy, or you can just call on 01793 724848.

We have a wide range of new ecological and conservation products available this year!

Nest Boxes & Bird Boxes

Posted by Steve on Mar 12, 2012 in Bird Boxes | Comments Off

Now is the time of year to put up bird boxes

Now the weather is starting to change it’s a good time to think about putting bird boxes up, both because they will soon be returning and looking for places to raise their young, but also it’s a much more pleasant experience for you to be out in the garden finding a good spot and fixing it up than it is in the middle of winter. You do need to act soon though as many birds will already be investigating where they are planning to settle down and raise their brood for the coming summer, in fact several species which remain in the UK during the winter may have already chosen their site for this year.

Why do birds need nest boxes?

artificial wren nest box

Many years ago the UK was almost entirely covered in natural woodland, however the British landscape has changed dramatically since then with the vast majority of the countryside given over to grazing or agriculture and our towns and cities are mainly either built on or at best, well manicured gardens. This has all led to a major decrease in suitable habitat for wild birds, whilst many people do put food out for birds in urban areas there is still a shortage of suitable nesting sites, therefore putting up nest boxes provides a great alternative to the natural cover from dense foliage or holes in trees which many birds prefer.

According to the RSPB over 60 species of British birds are known to have used nest boxes. These include blue, great and coal tits, nuthatches, house and tree sparrows, starlings, spotted and pied flycatchers, robins, house martins, kestrels and tawny owls.

Where should I site a nest box?

This varies enormously from species to species and if you have an interest in conservation of a species you should find out exactly what conditions they favour, however as a very general guide:

Tits, Sparrows and Starlings – prefer their nesting box to be between 2 and four metres above the ground and facing Northeast, this makes sure they are out of the strongest direct sun and sheltered from the wettest winds, they also like a clear flight path to the box.

Robins and Wrens – prefer their nesting site to be low down, so try to keep it under two metres and use an open fronted nest box tucked away right inside plenty of dense vegetation but with a relatively clear way in and out.

general purpose small bird nesting box

Remember that many birds are territorial, so they will have an area which they will protect and prevent other birds of the same species from nesting within, therefore (with the exception of sparrows and house martins) you should only put up one type of next box per species within your garden, but of course, you can still put up several to attract a wide range of birds.

There are a wide range of nest boxes available in our online shop from general purpose bird boxes to those for specific species, such as Barn Owl nest boxes, Dipper and Wagtail boxes, swift, Swallow or House Marten nests and even much larger ones such as our kestrel nest box. Or our nest box kits which are ever popular with schools and and organisations who buy large numbers and need to keep the cost down.

Wildcare EM3 and SM2+ Launch Day

Posted by Stan on Jan 25, 2012 in Bat Detectors | 5 comments

On 12th January Wildcare held a launch day for the new EM3 Bat Detector and SM2+ Bat Recorder. Over 50 ecologists from around the country were invited to get a preview of these exciting developments in the Bat monitoring market.

The day was an amazing success, set in the beautiful Victorian mansion at Lydiard Park in Swindon and the high quality free lunch was enjoyed by all.

We have listened to comments that it would be good to run an evening session there later in the year, so keep a look out for this!

Charity Rebate Scheme

Posted by Steve on Jan 25, 2012 in News | Comments Off

This is a new initiative to help charities!

How it works
Any charity can apply to join the scheme by downloading an application form here. On approval you will be issued with an ORGANISATION CODE which you can publish and advertise as widely as you like. When a user profile is created on wildcareshop.com this code needs to be inserted (just once) and any orders placed through that user profile are logged against your rebate scheme. On a monthly, 3 monthly or yearly basis (depending on sales volume) we will calculate the net sales value (before carriage and VAT) and pay a rebate back to the charity.

How much is the rebate?
The rebate has initially been set at a flat rate of 2% of net sales but we may offer extra rebate on some products and via special promotions from time to time.

What is the catch?
There is no catch, no registration fee, no tie-in. All we want you to do is tell everyone about wildcareshop.com!

Bat Detectors

Posted by Steve on Dec 8, 2011 in Bat Detectors | Comments Off

Envisage Wildcare offer a wide range of bat detecting equipment to both the ecological and environmental trade and the general public. They are able to detect the presence of bats by detecting their ultrasound signals (noises which are above human audible frequencies) and converting them to sounds which are audible to humans.

Do you know your Pipistrelles from your Horseshoes?

Once you have some experience of listening to different species of bat through your bat detector, you will be able to identify them by the differing frequencies and repetition rates as they hunt at night.

EM3 Bat Detector

The latest product from Wildlife Acoustics is the EM3 Bat Detector, which is designed for active monitoring of bat activity, it’s a self contained hand held detector which is ideal for surveying and field trips. This unit differs from the long established SM2 which is designed for long term autonomous recordings. It can be used with headphones or if out on a bat walk it also has a built in speaker, so everyone can hear.

The SM2 Bat Detector in contrast with the EM3 is much larger and tends to be mounted in a single location and left for prolonged periods of time to record over much longer timeframes.

Bat Box

The Bat Box is another detector available on the market (not a bat box in the sense of somewhere to attract bats to live), the Bat Box Duet has heterodyne and frequency division detection, this means the user is able to tune the device to a specific frequency, typically for a particular species, it can simultaneously scan and record the entire frequency range. This very sturdy unit also has both headphone socket and an on-board speaker.

The Bat Box IIID is an updated model from the popular Bat Box III, it’s a particularly sensitive device but does not incorporate recording, however it’s priced accordingly.

The Baton

The Baton bat detector with it’s unique design is another frequency division detector and does not require tuning. It also comes packaged with analysis software which includes examples of bat calls.

Magenta Bat Detector

Magenta manufacture a range of highly competitively priced units. They include an integral speaker and one hand operation with a rotary wheel mounted on the front for easy tuning.

Pettersson

Some of the most advanced bat detection technology available, the compact and lightweight Pettersson D1000X has 16 bit recording functionality (with sample rates from 32-768 kHz) which stores your data onto a flash card, this coupled with the high quality sensitive microphone which offers low distortion, low noise and a fantastic dynamic range, makes this, arguably the best bat detector on the market.

Also available are the D200 and D100 bat detection devices.

If you are interested in getting involved in a bat conservation or surveying project, the Bat Conservation Trust would be able to point you in the direction of a local group.