Bat Survey of the God's Acre Group Letton at www.lettonvillage.com

The survey was requested as part of the Letton Caring for God's Acre project, to look for evidence of bat activity within the church and the churchyard, as part of a programme of wildlife surveys.

Norman Entrance

Parts of this stone built church date back to the late eleventh / early twelfth century.

Stone tiles have been used on the main roofs.

The church is adjacent to a number of mature trees on the Letton Court Estate and is not far from a meander of the River Wye.

Methodology

A daytime survey was carried out by Rebecca Collins, an English Nature licensed bat worker (licence number 20011903) on the 11th June 2003 to examine the church, both internally and externally, for evidence of use by bats, such as droppings and grease marks.

An evening bat detector survey was carried out around the churchyard on the evening of the 11tn July 2003, to access the level of bat activity around the church and to detect any emerging bats.

A Tranquillity II bat detector was used, tuned to 50kHz whilst walking the site, with periodic stops when the detector was tuned through a range of frequencies.

lf a bat was detected the species was identified, where possible.

Results

Evidence of bat activity in the form of droppings was found during a careful internal and external search of the church. A few small droppings, probably common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), were found within the porch.

A collection of large droppings, probably of a long-eared species (Plecotus sp.) was found around the pulpit in the centre of the church. A few large droppings were found elsewhere in the church, indicating bats flying around within the building. Some small collections of butterfly wings were found, indicating feeding activity within the church. Access into the tower was not possible due to the health and safety issues.

For the evening survey the weather conditions were overcast, dry with a slight breeze and an ambient temperature of 14oC; sunset was around 21:25 hours. The first bat detected was a common pipistrelle at 21'.35 feeding around the churchyard and associated vegetation. A long-eared bat, most likely a brown long-eared (Plecotus auritus), was detected at 22.00 emerging from the eaves of the tower. Fourteen further brown long-eared bats were observed emerging from the tower flying into the tree canopy to the east of the church. At 22'.15 a long-eared bat was detected flying around within the church. A soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) was detected feeding around the trees adjacent to the churchyard at 22.35.

Discussion and Conclusions

Droppings within the church indicate that long-eared bats utilise the church before emerging to feed and this was confirmed during the evening survey. The collection of droppings indicates occasional roosting above the pulpit. The emergence count from the tower identifies this part of the church as the main roosting area of this colony. The churchyard and adjacent vegetation is used as foraging habitat by several species. The relatively low temperature will have affected the abundance/distribution of insects so it is likely that bat foraging activity would be greater on a warmer evening.

The long-eared species is most likely to be the brown long-eared, due to the facts that this species is widely recorded in Herefordshire, and that the grey long-eared (Plecotus austriacus) tends to be a more southern species. This can only be confirmed by handling an individual. Brown long-eared bats tend to roost in relatively small groups, a maternity roost usually containing ten to twenty individuals.

Brown-long eared bat emerge about half an hour after sunset, preferring to emerge when it is dark, rather than half-light like pipistrelles. This is why they 'exercise' and roost within the main body of the church first. This species is known for feeding on any available insects within the roost, such as the butterflies, and even spiders. They forage for insects, especially moths, within vegetation, their short, broad wings making them very manoeuvrable. For this reason they are not likely to spend much time within the churchyard. Their large ears and quiet calls makes them very good 'gleaners', picking insects from the vegetation before they have taken flight.

Letton Church Porch

The porch does not appear to be used as a regular roosting site for pipistrelle bats, but it may be used as a night roost.

This is where they rest during the middle of the night when insect activity is reduced, re-emerging several hours before dawn to forage before returning to their day roost.

To aid the cleaning of the church, areas that are utilised most often by the bats, such as the pulpit area, can be covered by a washable or wipe-able material. The wipe-able tablecloths available are very suitable.

The droppings can then be gathered up and deposited in the graveyard. Bat guano is a very good fertiliser, as it contains a large proportion of undigested rnsect (droppings just crumble to the touch), due to the rapid digestion that bats must undertake.

A common pipistrelle can eat three thousand midges in a single eveningl Bat droppings do not pose a health risk.

British bat species have different roosting and foraging habitat requirements. The common pipistrelle only requires small crevices, such as those between a roof tile and the roof lining material. A brown long-eared bat prefers a more open roosting area, such as that found in a loft space or a church tower.

A way of enhancing the roosting opportunities for bats within the churchyard would be to erect bat boxes.

These could be erected on trees, preferably in groups of three.

There are various types of box, the simplest is a wooden construction very much like a bird box (see leaflet).

Schwegler boxes are made from woodcrete and require less maintenance (available from Jacobi, Jayne & Co.).

The practice of leaving areas of grassland to grow long increases the insect diversity within the churchyard, which is beneficial to all creatures that eat insects. Areas such as these are extremely important, and if they can be incorporated into the management of the churchyard will greatly increase the wildlife diversity. A common pipistrelle's appetite requires good areas of foraging habitat within reach of its roost! The limitation of the use of insecticides within the churchyard would also assist the biodiversity and foraging potential. lf any planting is to take place night scented plants could be included, again to enhance insect diversity (see leaflet).

Summary

Brown long-eared bats are utilising the church and tower for roosting. The churchyard and neighbouring trees are used as foraging habitat by several bat species.

There is potential to enhance the foraging and roosting potential of the church and churchyard. Sympathetic management within the churchyard, to increase insect biodiversity, will boost feeding potential. The erection of bat boxes within the churchyard will increase roosting potential.

lf work takes place on the church tower care must be taken not to disturb the bats, or to block their access. A local bat worker can assist in such circumstances.

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Page No.	Description of Contents
1	Title and Cover Page
2	Introduction Methodology Results Discussions and Conclusions
3	Discussions and Conclusions continued Summary

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Take Part

If you would like to take part, or would like to support this project, please email godsacre@lettonvillage.com for more details.