Please contact us if you require any of the following services….

Planning Application Surveys

Scoping Surveys (Phase 1)

A scoping survey for bats can generally be carried out at any time of the year and involves an inspection of a property to assess its suitability to support winter hibernation or spring/summer bat roosts.

A thorough examination of internal and external features of a building will be carried out to locate signs of bat occupation which include the presence of droppings, moth/butterfly wings or carcasses of dead bats. More subtle signs include urine and fur staining around roost entrances.

It is possible to present a reasoned indication at this stage that the evidence gained is sufficient to determine that a building is not suitable to support bats and their ecological requirements. Therefore no further surveys will be required.

If however it becomes apparent that the building is being used by bats, or in the opinion of the surveyor it carries a reasonable potential to be used by bats, then an emergence survey (Phase 2) will be required.

Emergence Surveys (Phase 2)

The Phase 2 work may be preceded by a desk survey and this typically involves conducting a data search to gather historic bat records within a specific radius (usually 2km) of the survey site, this species specific information is very useful in the planning of a survey.

Two evening emergence surveys and a dawn return survey are recommended. These surveys will typically be carried out at least two weeks apart and take place between the beginning of May and the end of September.

Tree Surveys

Bats will commonly roost in trees and as such a survey will be required for any development which proposes their felling or lopping where bats or their roosts could be impacted if present.

The tree survey will initially involve a ground level inspection for potential roost features (PRF) using a high powered torch and binoculars. Woodpecker/rot holes, hazard beams, cracks and splits, detached bark, behind ivy stems and bat, bird or dormouse boxes are just a few of the PRF encountered, usually in mature trees.

If the tree(s) present one or more PRF then a closer inspection of these features will be required. This can be achieved using mechanical means (MEWP or Cherry Picker) if ground conditions are suitable or an arborist can be used for situations where mechanical access is not feasible.

Findings are recorded to produce a report and mitigation plans if required.

Bat Monitoring

Bat monitoring may include the following:

• Counts at hibernation sites
• Colony counts
• Counts at maternity roosts
• Counts at swarming sites
• Waterway and field studies

These can be carried our for a range of conservation reasons such as species occurrence, species abundance and usually require data analysis.

Bat monitoring services can be tailored to suit each individual need.