I had an email from a resident in the center of town to tell me that in mid afternoon he saw a small bats flying around in his garden, which looked liked a common pipestrelle bat.
I don't doubt his identification, for most bats encountered flying in an urban setting are 'pips', either Pipestrellus pipestrellus or Pipestrellus pygmaeus.
Common Pipestrelle bat ( from www.flickr.com/photos/sanmartin/)
It is important to remember that bats in the UK & much of Europe hibernate in the winter time, for they feed on flying insects, which are in short supply in the colder months of the year. They often hibernate in one particular spot, beneath tree bark, or a crack in a tree, or inside caves or unheated outdoor buildings, for 7 - 14 days and then move to a new site. In our area, hibernation starts in mid - late November and usually continues to around mid - late March.
Thursday was a cold day and for the bat to be flying in the daytime and hunting for almost non existent insect food, probably means that it has used up its fat reserves and was desperately hungry.
With the cold weather continuing the prospects are not good for this bat :-(.
Recent Winter Weather Patterns
A mild early & mid winter period, followed by a cold late winter / early spring weather pattern is really bad news for bats (& other hibernating mammals) because they use up much of their fat reserves before the end of winter and then wake up hungry, just at a time when it turns cold and there is no food about, so they run the risk of starving. Cold winters and warm early spring are a much better combination :-).
Unfortunately the last few winters have been of the 'mild winter and cold early spring' variety. So not good news for bats, as well as hedgehogs, dormice etc.
Note to the weather gods
Please can we have a nice warm spell of weather soon.....
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