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Twinkle twinkle little bat
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Avocet in iconic pose
Black & White Blackbird
Twinkle twinkle little bat
Ladybirds, Sewerby Hall and Gardens, 5.27 p.m. 24th February 2012
Ladybirds, Sewerby Hall and Gardens, 5.27 p.m. 24th February 2012
Russian Brent Goose
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gentle lemur

Twinkle twinkle little bat

How I wonder what you're at (as Alice said).
Unknown species in broad daylight at 10 am, 19th March 2012 in South Devon. I guess it was very hungry as it can only just have emerged from hibernation and the previous night was cold, so it may not have been able to feed properly.
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gentle lemur
I ought to have considered driving to Calumet in Bristol to hire a Nikon D4, which has the best Nikon autofocus system (and high ISO performance) with a 200mm f/2 Nikkor which I reckon would have been the most suitable lens for the job. Regrettably that would have taken the best part of 4 hours - and the bat was there for about 4 minutes :D
I have been doing a bit of research and I think it is possible that the bat is a serotine. Noctules tend to fly high and straight, I used to have a regular flypasts in a third floor flat. Serotines are said to fly in better light than many other species.

Alan
 
lintworm
This is most likely a Pipistrellus (either P. pipistrellus or P. nathusii, I don't know the distribution of these species in the UK) when looking to its ears and face, which are also most likely to be seen in daylight, especially in urban area's. Serotines are not species I would expect in an urban area, here in the Netherlands they fly much more in open habitats.

The way it flies also fits for a pipistrelle and much less for a serotine (or Nyctalus).

But I don't know how big this one was, pipistrelles are the smallest UK bats (wingspan 20-25 cm), were serotine and nyctalus are the biggest with wingspans of 35-40 cm.
 
gentle lemur
lintworm said:
This is most likely a Pipistrellus (either P. pipistrellus or P. nathusii, I don't know the distribution of these species in the UK) when looking to its ears and face, which are also most likely to be seen in daylight, especially in urban area's. Serotines are not species I would expect in an urban area, here in the Netherlands they fly much more in open habitats.

The way it flies also fits for a pipistrelle and much less for a serotine (or Nyctalus).

But I don't know how big this one was, pipistrelles are the smallest UK bats (wingspan 20-25 cm), were serotine and nyctalus are the biggest with wingspans of 35-40 cm.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the suggestion. We get both species in the UK (plus the soprano pipistrelle) and together they are our commonest bats. You may be correct, but I am familiar with their size and the way they fly, and this didn't look the same - although seeing the bat in daylight makes it harder to compare. The area is not urban; there are sand dunes, saltmarsh, small woods and many green fields within a two or three minutes walk of my flat.

Alan
 
gentle lemur
My apologies to lintworm: I have consulted with experts on another board and they agree that this bat is a pipistrelle.
I am now sure that I know even less about bats than I thought I did :o

Alan
 

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