BatChat Bat Conservation Trust

Hidden amongst the boughs of an Oak tree, Steve & his guests look down over the Knepp Castle Rewilding Estate; former farmland which has been allowed to return to nature by the owners Isabella Tree & Charlie Burrell. In this episode, as the sun sets the light turns golden. Below us red deer begin to bellow at the start of the rutting season, a green woodpecker calls out from amongst the tussocky grassland and bats begin to flit about the Oak canopy they're stood in. Our guests in this final episode of season 3 are Ryan Greaves and Stephanie Murphy. Ryan tells us more about the Estate and Steph explains how bat surveys have evolved over the years.
Follow Ryan and Steph on InstagramFollow Knepp on twitter and InstagramFind out more about the greater horseshoes in SussexGet more audio from Knepp by having a listen to their podcastGet the history of the Knepp Rewilding project hereThe bestselling book Wilding by Isabella Tree can be bought hereIt really helps us as a show if you leave us a review because it helps other people discover that we exist

Season 4
Recording for series 4 is already underway and will be coming later in the year. We're looking for participants to share bat stores from across the UK with the podcast so if you're working on a great bat project or have a story about the bats in your area to share please drop us an email to comms@bats.org.uk

Our Social Media
Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/batconservationtrust

For more bat news, head to our website https://www.bats.org.uk/

Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatMan
Cover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/

Bats are magical but misunderstood mammals. At the Bat Conservation Trust we have a vision of a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. We know that conservation action to protect and conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations
Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2021-2022.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout to redeem a free gift!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more.
Don't forget to leave us a 5* review on the Apple Podcasts App! It helps other listeners find the show more easily and spread the good word about bats. Don't know how to leave a review? Check out our simple instructions here.
Support the show

Discover the amazing work taking place in the dead of night each year by hoards of volunteers. This episode starts with Steve joining a team of these volunteers who are counting out a brown long-eared bat roost in the Derbyshire Dales at dusk as a nearby rookery gathers. We then sit down in Battersea Park, London with Philip Briggs, monitoring manager for the Bat Conservation Trust who collates all of this data sent in by volunteers and turns it into invaluable trends to establish how our bats are faring year on year in the UK.  The National Bat Monitoring Programme is one of the longest running citizen science projects in the world and YOU, yes YOU can take part! There are surveys which need no prior experience.
Get involved with the NBMP yourself hereTake a look at the summary maps for each survey typeWatch footage of the brown long-eared roost being counted out by Jill in this episode here as the bats return at dawnRead the latest NBMP report to see how our bats are faringPlease leave us a review of the show as it helps us get BatChat discovered by other listeners. Instructions of how to leave your review in each of these places can be found here.Competition Time!
We're running BatChat's first ever competition this series. Children's authors Angela Mills and Emma Reynolds have kindly donated prizes for our first ever competition! Angela has donated a copy of Bobby the brown long-eared bat signed by both Angela and Chris Packham and Emma has donated a copy of her newly released book Amara and the bats (see episode 26). To enter the competition to win one of these brilliant books, all you have to do is write us a review about the show and the two winners will be picked at random at the end of this series. Not all podcast apps allow you to leave reviews, so;
if you’re an Apple device user, leave us a review on the Apple podcasts app which is already installed on your device. if you’re an Android user, you can leave us a review on the Podcast Addict appand if you don’t listen to the show on a mobile device you can write your review on the Podchaser website.Instructions of how to leave your review in each of these places can be found here. Remember, we need to be able to contact you if you win so when you leave your review, make sure you give us your twitter or Instagram handle in the review. If you don’t use these, drop us an email to comms@bats.org.uk with a copy of your review. We’re onlyThank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2021-2022.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout to redeem a free gift!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more.
Don't forget to leave us a 5* review on the Apple Podcasts App! It helps other listeners find the show more easily and spread the good word about bats. Don't know how to leave a review? Check out our simple instructions here.
Support the show

Join Steve on the Welcombe Hills overlooking Stratford-upon-Avon as he sits down with the author of Bobby the brown long-eared bat, a children's book which follows the adventure of a baby brown long-eared bat who lives in the attic of a farmyard. Sitting in the autumn sunshine on a wooden bench watching the world go by, Angela reveals to Steve where the inspiration for Bobby came from, how she got into the world of bats, the challenges of publishing as well as revealing what's next in store for Bobby!  
Angela is on twitter and InstagramFind out more about Bobby the brown long-eared bat on his own website!Get your own signed copy direct from Angela from her online shopor order from here and 10% of the proceeds will be donated to the Bat Conservation TrustSupport your local bookstore by shopping on uk.bookshop.org where you can name your local bookstore to support them whilst you shop.Competition Time!
As you heard in this episode, Angela Mills and fellow children's author Emma Reynolds have kindly donated prizes for our first ever competition! Angela has donated a copy of Bobby the brown long-eared bat signed by both Angela and Chris Packham and Emma has donated a copy of her newly released book Amara and the bats (see episode 26). To enter the competition to win one of these brilliant books, all you have to do is write us a review about the show and the two winners will be picked at random at the end of this series. Not all podcast apps allow you to leave reviews, so;
if you’re an Apple device user, leave us a review on the Apple podcasts app which is already installed on your device. if you’re an Android user, you can leave us a review on the Podcast Addict appand if you don’t listen to the show on a mobile device you can write your review on the Podchaser website.Instructions of how to leave your review in each of these places can be found here. Remember, we need to be able to contact you if you win so when you leave your review, make sure you give us your twitter or Instagram handle in the review. If you don’t use these, drop us an email to comms@bats.org.uk with a copy of your review. We’re only able to post the prizes to addresses in the United Kingdom. 
Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BatConservationTrust
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BCT_
Instagram: https://www.insta
Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2021-2022.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout to redeem a free gift!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more.
Don't forget to leave us a 5* review on the Apple Podcasts App! It helps other listeners find the show more easily and spread the good word about bats. Don't know how to leave a review? Check out our simple instructions here.
Support the show

This week Steve is on the Tortworth Estate in south Gloucestershire with Jim Mullholland. They're joined by a voluntary team of arborists who are assisting Jim with his 5 year project to create natural tree features for Bechstein's and barbastelle bats. By using chainsaws to create different crevices and cavities within living trees, the team hope that they will be taken up by colonies of the two bat species which are present in the woodland Steve is visiting today in this episode. The episode starts on a sunny spring day in an ancient woodland with chiffchaff singing in the canopy overhead. As the episode moves down to where the team are working for the day there's more background noise than you're used to on BatChat because the woodland is right next to the M5 motorway.  
Jim Mullholland is on twitter and InstagramJim has a YouTube channel with a number of videos of bats inside tree roosts.The Tortworth Estate opens to the public on certain days of the year. Find out more here.Listen to our other episodes on veteranisation with Jim and Vicky BengtssonA guide to veteranisation techniques is at this link.Competition Time!
Children’s authors Angela Mills and Emma Reynolds have kindly donated prizes. Angela has donated a copy of Bobby the brown long-eared bat signed by both Angela and Chris Packham and Emma has donated a copy of her newly released book Amara and the bats (see above episode!). To enter the competition to win one of these brilliant books, all you have to do is write us a review about the show and the two winners will be picked at random at the end of this series. Not all podcast apps allow you to leave reviews, so if you’re an Apple device user, leave us a review on the Apple podcasts app which is already installed on your device. If you’re an Android user, you can leave us a review on the Podcast Addict app and if you don’t listen to the show on a mobile device you can write your review on the Podchaser website. Instructions of how to leave your review in each of these places can be found here. Remember, we need to be able to contact you if you win so when you leave your review, make sure you give us your twitter or Instagram handle in the review. If you don’t use these, drop us an email to comms@bats.org.uk with a copy of your review. We’re only able to post the prizes to addresses in the United Kingdom. 

Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat:
Facebook:
Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2021-2022.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout to redeem a free gift!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more.
Don't forget to leave us a 5* review on the Apple Podcasts App! It helps other listeners find the show more easily and spread the good word about bats. Don't know how to leave a review? Check out our simple instructions here.
Support the show

This week Steve is in Surrey at RHS Garden Wisley with Principal Entomologist Dr Andrew Salisbury. Andrew sits down with Steve in the brand new wildlife garden outside their new laboratory building to tell us about the work the RHS do and how we can improve our gardens for wildlife including bats. 
This week we also have a piece of nature writing by James Gilbert. James creates 'thumbnail' pieces and tweets them out and he's created a longer piece especially for BatChat called "Made with Echoes".
RHS Garden Wisley website, twitter and InstagramRHS Plants for Pollinators listAndrew Salisbury is on twitter and Instagram and his RHS profile is hereInfo on how to garden for bats can be found on our websiteJames Gilbert is on twitterMorgan Brind who narrated Made with Echoes is on twitter and InstagramIf you have a piece of nature writing or poetry about bats that you'd like to share with us, drop us an email to comms@bats.org.uk and your piece may end up on the show!


Competition Time!
Children’s authors Angela Mills and Emma Reynolds have kindly donated prizes. Angela has donated a copy of Bobby the brown long-eared bat signed by both Angela and Chris Packham and Emma has donated a copy of her newly released book Amara and the bats (see above episode!). To enter the competition to win one of these brilliant books, all you have to do is write us a review about the show and the two winners will be picked at random at the end of this series. Not all podcast apps allow you to leave reviews, so if you’re an Apple device user, leave us a review on the Apple podcasts app which is already installed on your device. If you’re an Android user, you can leave us a review on the Podcast Addict app and if you don’t listen to the show on a mobile device you can write your review on the Podchaser website. Instructions of how to leave your review in each of these places can be found here. Remember, we need to be able to contact you if you win so when you leave your review, make sure you give us your twitter or Instagram handle in the review. If you don’t use these, drop us an email to comms@bats.org.uk with a copy of your review. We’re only able to post the prizes to addresses in the United Kingdom. 

Joi
Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2021-2022.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout to redeem a free gift!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more.
Don't forget to leave us a 5* review on the Apple Podcasts App! It helps other listeners find the show more easily and spread the good word about bats. Don't know how to leave a review? Check out our simple instructions here.
Support the show

This week Steve joins Martyn Cooke outside a holiday cottage in Staffordshire as they set up a matrix of bat detectors to record the sound of Brandt's bats emerging from their roost before flying into the adjacent woodland. Martyn explains why he is recording the calls, why he's travelled all the way from Surrey to record these bats and what the calls will be used for. Steve finds out how an injured serotine bat got Martyn hooked on bats and they talk about the advances in automatic bat call identification.

If you're interested in finding out more about bat detectors, your local bat group are likely to be able to lend you a detector and you can learn more about them on our website here.   Listen to our earlier episode from series one about Brandt's in the Churnet valley here.
Follow Martyn on twitterBorrow detectors from us to help us grow the call libraryBat Detector InfoLow cost AudioMoth detectors on twitterPlease leave us a review if you can, it helps us to reach a wider audience so that we can spread the word about how great bats are.
Competition Time!
Two of this series future guests, children’s authors Angela Mills and Emma Reynolds have kindly donated prizes. Angela has donated a copy of Bobby the brown long-eared bat signed by both Angela and Chris Packham and Emma has donated a copy of her newly released book Amara and the bats. To enter the competition to win one of these brilliant books, all you have to do is write us a review about the show and the two winners will be picked at random at the end of this series. Not all podcast apps allow you to leave reviews, so if you’re an Apple device user, leave us a review on the Apple podcasts app which is already installed on your device. If you’re an Android user, you can leave us a review on the Podcast Addict app and if you don’t listen to the show on a mobile device you can write your review on the Podchaser website. Instructions of how to leave your review in each of these places can be found here. Remember, we need to be able to contact you if you win so when you leave your review, make sure you give us your twitter or Instagram handle in the review. If you don’t use these, drop us an email to comms@bats.org.uk with a copy of your review. We’re only able to post the prizes to addresses in the United Kingdom. 

Join the conversation on social media using #BatChat

Producer: Steve Roe
Thank you to Wildcare and Wildlife Acoustics for sponsoring the BatChat Podcast in 2021-2022.Quote BATCHAT at the Wildcare checkout to redeem a free gift!Visit wildlifeacoustics.com to learn more.
Don't forget to leave us a 5* review on the Apple Podcasts App! It helps other listeners find the show more easily and spread the good word about bats. Don't know how to leave a review? Check out our simple instructions here.
Support the show