|
Bats of Roussenski Lom Nature Park in Bulgaria
In Bulgaria from 30 September until 5 October the first
workshop of a serious of 7 was organised in co-operation
with Teodora Ivanova, Bulgaria's representative in the Advisory
Committee and chairman of the Bulgarian Bat Research and
Protection Group, under assistance of Antoaneta Gueorguieva
and Nikolai Simov from this group.
During two nights proceeding the actual workshop, the Danube
in the vicinity of Rousse was surveyed for the occurrence
of Myotis dasycneme and the presence of hunting or advertising
Pipistrellus nathusii.
The Nature Park Roussenski Lom south of Pyce (Rousse) hosted
the workshop from the 2nd to the 5th of October 1999. The
nature park provided a most beautiful and very rich bat
habitat. A total of 8 participants from the bat group and
the nature park attended the full workshop program. Some
interested individuals took part in evening excursions.
On the 30th of September 1999 we observed a few Myotis
dasycneme hunting on the Donau somewhat to the west of Rousse
(Pyce). In this first and following evening also Nyctalus
noctula (hunting & mating calls from rocks), Pipistrellus
nathusii (hunting & mating calls from rocks and trees),
Pipistrellus pipistrellus (45 kHz!), M. daubentonii/capaccinii,
M. mystacinus/brandtii and Vespertilio murinus were observed.
The numbers observed and quality of the observations of
the pond bat are yet to poor to officially claim this species
as a new species for Bulgaria. But 'the pond bat' as a possibly
present species and at the same time the potential of the
low land near the Danube is recognised by the Bulgarian
Bat group. The group will start looking for flight paths
over smaller rivers contributing to the Danube and will
start checking caves and other possible hibernacula on the
border of and in the Danube valley. The Nathusius pipistrelle
was found in quite high numbers although it was only known
in the entire region from one animal found dead.
During fieldwork in the Nature park the following species
were observed: Nyctalus noctula, Pipistrellus nathusii,
Pipistrellus pipistrellus (45 kHz !), Myotis daubentonii/capaccinii,
Myotis myotis, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, R. euryale, R.
mehely, Eptesicus serotinus, Hypsugo savii.. Miniopterus
schreibersii was not observed hunting with the bat detector,
but only during a visit to a known roost.
One of the most interesting phenomena observed during the
workshop in the Nature park was the presence of hundreds
of advertising Nyctalus noctula on south exposed cliffs
in the valley of the Lom river. Absolutely amazing was a
clustering of between 250 and 500 calling males on a cliff
of approximately 450 m long and 50 m. high. We found this
mating site by running against the stream of female Noctules
leaving the roost site and following the canyon in the early
evening and thus demonstrating a little of the survey technique.
Among these advertising Noctules were also relatively large
numbers of advertising
P. nathusii. This species was also observed hunting quite
a lot. Both types of observations providing the experience
on how it is possible to improve the knowledge on the occurrence
on P. nathusii by working with the detector.
In one instance H. savii - the only other Pipistrellus-like
sound around 35 kHz - was observed quite good and over a
long period, demonstrating the possibilities to recognise
this species through its different flight style - high up
in the open - and according different sound quality and
rhythm.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bats of the beautiful Sava
in Croatia
The workshop in Croatia was organised in co-operation with
Darko Kova?i?, Croatia's representative in the Advisory
Committee and active leader of the community of bat researchers
and conservationists in Croatia.
The Lonjsko Polje Nature Park to the south east of Zagreb
along the river Sava hosted the workshop from the 21st to
the 24th of October 1999. During night proceeding the actual
workshop, the workshop area was pre-visited to find suitable
sites for demonstrating and teaching. The nature park provided
a most beautiful and very rich bat habitat. A total of 12
participants from Croatia attended the full workshop program,
two from Slovenia attended part of the program, and some
interested individuals took part in evening excursions.
The landscape and nature of the Lonjsko Polje Nature Park,
the vicinity of the river Sava, and the data already known
from the area provided a very high potential for bats.
Unluckily the weather got relatively cold just before the
workshop. We therefore already expected a distribution of
bats in the landscape biased towards street lamps and smaller
water bodies with a relatively sheltered microclimate: the
autumn aspect. The workshop program was adapted to this
situation by going out in the field only in the evening
between 17.00 and 01.00 hours, and using more time for teaching
on enhanced topics and sound analysis during the day.
In spite of the relative cool evening temperatures bat
activity was quite high. In all small villages near street
lamps we observed Pipistrellus pygmaeus (55 kHz !). This
new species was expected but not yet officially recorded
for the area. There are few records of the species from
bat boxes and some old observations from myself recorded
as P. pipistrellus 55 kHz phonic type during travelling
through Croatia and Bosnia in 1985, 1988 and 1989.
The Noctule was present everywhere in the area and again
concentrate on street lamps. This provided the opportunity
to experience the difficulty in identification of such 'easy
bats' in unusual situations like hunting at street lamps.
Both Pipistrellus nathusii and P. kuhlii were found hunting
near street lamps demonstrating the difficulty for beginners
but also experienced observes to separate them under these
conditions. Recordings and analysis of individuals hunting
away from the street lamp provided proof for the presence
of both species.
All these species using specific but somewhat overlapping
QCF-frequency bands gave us good opportunity to practise
in tuning and observing with the heterodyning detectors.
On smaller water surfaces of some oxbows Myotis daubentonii
was observed. In Croatia both M. Capaccinii and daubentonii
occur. Species which at present can not be separated in
the field using a detector. In the workshop area, however,
never any indication of the presence of M. capaccinii was
found. We therefore assume to have observed M. daubentonii.
On the river Sava activity was almost zero. No observations
of Pond bats, although the habitat seem absolutely fine
for this species. And visual and sound information in the
field al well as sound analysis of the Myotis observed hunting
over the water indicated Daubenton's bats: relatively small,
peak frequency above 40 kHz and no QCF.
In the early evening of the last night Myotis nattereri
was observed above an oxbow, almost in daylight. In reference
to the observations of Daubenton's bats of the night before
all participants could acknowledge the broader wings and
different flight behaviour. Analysis of recorded sounds
confirmed much higher frequencies in the pulses.
Miniopterus schreibersii very often is difficult to observe
due to it hunting out of reach of the detector and observer.
In Lonjsko Polje in the autumn however they visited some
street lamps providing us with a difficult sound puzzle
in trying to separate M. schreibersii and the P. pygmaeus.
But in the light of the street lamps we were able to observe
the differences in morphology and flight style and were
able to hear M. schreibersii using sounds on 51-53 kHz but
lacking the typical pipistrellus rhythm.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ukraine happy with a small
bat!
On the evening of April 26th, I visited Peter Lina in Leiden
because he had collected both our visa at the Ukrainian
embassy in The Hague. We weren’t going to be on the
same flight, we thus - rather absurdly in Leiden - said
good by with "See you in Kiev on Friday afternoon".
Besides all the preparation and communication last winter
with our colleagues abroad, via the wonderful medium of
email, the first act of a new serious of visits to the south
east of Europe. New opportunities to get to know, exchange
with and train colleagues in bat research and protection
in this region. New opportunities to hunt for the species
of special interest: the Pond bat, Nathusius’ pipistrelle
and Schreiber’s bat, and all the other species.
Following Bulgaria and Croatia in October last year, Ukraine
is the 3e country In which a bat detector training course
was held. Later on this spring also Georgia, Slovenia, Romania
and Moldova will be visited. This support to bat research
and conservation work in these countries, in the form of
training for bat experts and a number of bat detectors,
was made possible by the German Government (Umweltministerium
/ Bundesamt für Naturschutz). A German contribution
to the implementation of the Agreement for the Conservation
of Bats in Europe.
The expedition to the Ukraine landscape and the workshop
between April 28th and May th were locally organised by
Lena Godlevsky and Igor Zagorodniuk from Kiev.
On the 29th we travelled to workshop site near the villages
Yaduty and Bonderovka at the river Disna. We were to be
hosted by Aleksandr Voblenko, Boris Kedrov and colleagues
from the department of zoology of Nizhyn Pedagogical university
at the universities biological station just north of Nizhen
in the middle of the magnificent flood plain forests landscape
of the Disna, a contributory of the Dnjeper. Nizhyn situated
about 150 km to the north-east of Kiev.
A marvellous journey by train, taking about three and a
half hours for 150 km. Slow but steady a landscape with
vast plains with grass lands and acres and vast forests
passed us by outside the window. Nice birds like Hoopoe,
Bee-eaters and Harriers were seen and cockchafers just kept
entering the train.
About 23 people from all over Ukraine attended the workshop
and students from Nizhyn University alternated in cooking
and taking part in lectures and excursions. Taya Gondar
- a law student - especially attended the workshop to translate.
Hard work under field conditions which was done excellently.
On the first night we stayed in the surroundings of the
biological station where Nyctalus noctula, Eptesicus serotinus,
Pipistrellus pipistrellus and P. kuhlii as well as some
Plecotus auritus/austriacus were observed. Listening to
the bats, let alone recording them was very difficult because
of the unbelievable numbers of swarming cockchafers. The
air was trembling with sound! Surprisingly there were hardly
any bats using this food supply. Later in the evening even
more colleagues were collected from the railway near the
village.
The second night the group split in two. One group studied
the camp surroundings, the other visited the Disna flood
plain landscape and its water bodies. Nyctalus noctula,
Eptesicus serotinus, Pipistrellus pipistrellus. P. nathusii
and some Plecotus auritus/austriacus were observed. Myotis
species were missing altogether. A cold freezing wind started
blowing from the north east and bat activity dropped quickly.
We monitored water surfaces all the time and at some point
we saw - not heard cause out of reach - some M. daubentonii
or dasycneme flying close to the water surface in the light
of a strong torch. On our way back to the home base we again
and again looked at water bodies, where occasional Noctules,
Pipistrelle bats and Kuhl's pipistrelle bats were observed,
but Myotis kept missing. A Noctules was found hunting near
a lonely street lamp, although there was no sign of an insect.
In the morning we went to the village of Bonderovka to
just try our luck and find swarming bats. It got lighter
and lighter with no bat activity, but suddenly some Noctules
were flying and some Pipistrellus pipistrellus popped up.
In following these I lost the party but ended up at a roost
on my on. A number of P. pipistrellus was swarming under
the overhanging roof of a building. Suddenly I discovered
some few bats swarming at another side of the building too.
Their tonal quality or 'best listening frequency' was on
55 kHz. These were Pipistrellus pygmaeus! A species not
yet recorded in the Ukraine. They disapeared inside before
i could record them. The party was gathered and we all had
a look at the roost and heard loud social sounds from the
roost. Pipistrellus ???
The next day it got so cold that we had to do the lectures
outside in the sun but on a sheltered place out of the wind.
The building was to cold. Nonetheless we headed for Bondarovka
again in the evening to try an net the pygmaeus. A freezing
wind blowing over the open landscape. We never got any Pipistrellus,
but several Noctules instead. The loud social sounds we
head heard proved to be Noctules, and the building hosted
tree different species. Around the building P. pipistrellus
and jus a few pygmaeus could be recorded, as well as Noctules
hunting in the garden low down between the trees to stay
out of the wind. Analysis of the recordings on the next
day proofed they were P. pygmaeus and the bat workers from
this large country where happy with this small bat!
The next was a very sunny day again and quite agreeable
as long as you stayed out of the wind. We all got a sunburn
in this outdoor classroom. In the evening we went to Yaduty
a village at the oxbow with a lot of water and small wet
brook forest habitats. Here several hunting Nyctalus noctula
were observed, and again P. pipistrellus and a few pygmaeus.
The later species seemed to be present but not abundant.
Everybody had a chance to practice the tuning and handling
of the detector. In one of the brook forests a single M.
mystacinus/brandtii was flying around, but to faint to be
studied well.
All in all more then 25 Ukrainian bat workers had four
nights of practice and three days of lectures and discussions
on the background of detectors, on echo-location and behavioural
variation of sounds, on wing morphology, flight and hunting
behaviour, description of the individual species and on
the set up of a systematic survey of the distribution of
bats. Completed with a round table discussion on the possibilities
and needs in bat conservation in the Ukraine this was 'heavy
duty' but rewarding! Now our colleagues in Ukraine can start
discovering a lot of bat sites using bat detectors. I urged
them to go on scanning the larger water with the detector
set to 35 kHz to listen for the 'pjiep poup poup' of the
pond bat, and to go for the old forest near the water in
autumn to survey the territorial males of the Nathusius
pipistrelle. For this large country and large group of interested
bat workers, however, some more detectors would not be a
luxury!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great Workshop in Georgia
From 10.05.2000 until 17.05.2000, as the second in a series
of 5 workshops to train bat experts in south east European
countries, a bat detector workshop was held in Georgia in
the Caucasus. Locally it was al very well organised by Andrei
Kandaurov and Alexander Bukhnikashvili from the Institute
of Zoology of the Georgian Academy of Sciences. Local organisation
was supported also by the Dutch Embassy in Kiev through
the Consulate in Tbilisi. During excursions, lectures and
discussions Andrei Kandaurov's daughter Julia, a young student
of English, translated. Peter Boye from the German Bundesamt
für Naturschutz accompanied me in the expedition and
assisted in the workshop. There were three participants
from Georgia and two from Azerbaijan. Sascha has been our
driver for all the expedition, and you really need a four
wheel drive to go out in the field in Georgia. Larissa has
been our cook during all the workshop days. It may be clear:
team work!
First afternoon: a check on the landscape in the area where
the workshop was planned to take place form tomorrow morning:
the Korughi game reserve which was part of the Iori state
reserve of the flood plain landscape of the Iori river,
some 50 km east of Tbilisi at the border to Azerbaijan.
Andrei, who’s expertise is with bats in caves, wonders
if this will be a good area for bats. We visit an unbelievably
beautiful primary flood plain forest with giant old oaks,
some over a 1000 years old, and poplar trees up to 20 m
high. Open structured and old dead and broken down trees
everywhere. I've never seen anything like this. Don’t
worry! This is a great area for bats! Besides the amazing
landscape, White tailed eagles, Hoopoes, Bee-eaters, Rollers,
Montagu’s Harriers and a Nightingale in every second
tree are enjoying us al afternoon. Turtles on the forest
track and foot prints of Otters and Red jackals on the muddy
river bank are the dessert.
In the evening Andrei, Peter and myself make a kind of
a pre-excursion to the Gardabani hunting area about 50 km
south of Tbilisi and south of Rustavi near the border of
Azerbaijan. Another fantastic old primary flood plain forest
at the river Mtkvari, or Kura in Azerbaijan. Again an impressive
open structured forest where huge old poplar and oaks trees
with lianas give the landscape a jungle appearance. The
light goes down and together with a passing black stork
the first Noctules (Nyctalus noctula) appear. An almost
full moon turns the forest into a fairy tail and allows
us to see the dark silhouettes of the hunting bats. While
tuned to a Pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) we
see a smaller pipistrellus like bat which is not received
in the detector. Tuning up reveals good tonal quality (pip
pop pip pop pip pop) and a fast rhythm at 55 kHz: the Pygmy
pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus pygmaeus), first record for
Georgia, or the Caucasus region as a whole! The bat hunts
for nearly 20 minutes quite at about two to three meters
above ground where we can beautifully see it and record
it.
When its gone we tune down to the Pipistrelle again to compare.
A sudden whistling sound warns us that there is more. We
tune up to 80 kHz and hear it very clearly. A greater Horseshoe
bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) circles around a tree and
disappears again. But it returns over and over again and
allows us to observe it hunting, with the moonlight shining
through its almost transparent wing. Everything concerning,
sound, flight behaviour, and wing shape can be explained.
Loud social sound of Noctules draw our attention to some
old trees. But it's to dark to see much of a roost. In the
light of the torch we just see the Noctules flying past
the trees below crown level.
Second day: Official start of the workshop at the Dutch
Consulate in Tbilisi, where Ms. Sandra Roelofs from the
Consulate offered all participants, and two representatives
from the Embassy in Kiev, which by accident happen to be
present, pastry and coffee. Good starter! Departure for
the field. At arrival at the old mansion at Korughi which
is going to be the home base for the workshop, I have a
walk around the mansion and enter a cellar beneath the building:
hit: greater horseshoe bats. Individual bats hanging and
sleeping, but in some room at the back also a group which
immediately takes to the wing. I leave not to disturb any
more.
In the evening we just start in the area around the mansion
where a spectacular amount of Pipistrelle and Pygmy bats
start hunting and an occasional Noctule is heard over our
heads. Good to practice the tuning as it was discussed in
the theory session in the afternoon. These Pygmy bats seem
to be really abundant over here. When light gets down even
further, the first Greater Horseshoe bats start to emerge.
We get to a count of 14 animals who leave the cellar and
take for the flood plain forest. A small colony. But counting
is difficult because we are 'disturbed' by another species
who starts emerging from the roof of the building: Lesser
mouse-eared bats (Myotis blythi). In the excitement - most
participants have never used a bat detector before - nobody
manages to really count them, but they are over 100 at least.
It is no surprise that the Long-eared bats (Plecotus auritus/austriacus)
are missed by almost everyone. In the middle part of the
night we make a walk to a nearby small river to look for
other species. Pipistrelle and Pygmy are abundant again.
An occasional Whiskered/Brandt's bat (Myotis mystacinus/brandtii)
passes by. To short to really demonstrate the species to
the participants, but they can acknowledge the 'dry sound'.
In the morning we observe the Lesser mouse-eared bats and
greater horseshoe bats returning and swarming. Some try
to find out where the Pipistrellus species go. They take
of in the direction of a village. Some whiskered/Brandt's
bats are observed following the same direction.
The third night we find ourselves a combination of open
water (some ponds) in more open area and old trees. The
edge of the floodplain forest towards a village. We hope
for a flight show of Noctules and possibly other open air
species. Strong wind and the threat of rain prevent our
(my) expectations to become true. Again large numbers of
Pipistrelle and Pygmy bats and a sudden short visit of a
Serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus). We leave the open water
to go into the forest again. Here Whiskered/Brandt's bats
are found hunting on several places. Great to demonstrate
the species and to have everybody have a good look at them.
Some Plecotus meet us near a giant dead tree, but don't
let us see them good enough. Noctules flying above the forest
and entering it here and there with loud social sounds.
We end up in an open area near the river Iori. Again some
Serotine bats and Noctules high up. And lots of Pipistrelle
and Pygmy bats at the river bank. Torches and detectors
scan the water surface and we find Daubenton's bats (Myotis
daubentonii). Excitement, because this is again a species
not know for Georgia or the Caucasus! Nobody has had the
opportunity to use a detector yet in this region. So these
findings demonstrate the selectivity in data you get when
you only (can) apply some of the possible survey methods.
We return to the ponds in the early morning and find a flight
path of Daubenton's in the direction of these ponds. Now
at the ponds a number of Daubenton's are hunting and 'jumping'
form the surface of the pond into the forest edge and a
stream running from the edge to ponds. An exchange is going
on. Then we discover bats - Daubenton's - swarming high
up in a very high old tree at the edge of the pond. Being
lucky! In the mean while the amount of hunting, circling,
swarming Pipistrelle and Pygmy bats al over the area has
grown beyond believe. What a noise.
Our last night/evening in the workshop area is used to
try and catch the Daubenton's and possibly Pygmy bats. No
wind, beautiful warm weather. We set up nets at overhanging
vegetation near the river, at the place near the pond where
the 'jumping' occurred and above the stream inside the forest.
All we manage to catch is Pipistrelle bats. But Noctules,
Serotines and those Pipistrellus species again hunting above
the ponds and the river and adjacent meadows, show us how
they sound and fly when hunting in the open. While we only
need to go into the forest to have a good chance of finding
Whiskered/Brandt's bats and passing Lesser mouse-eared bats.
The next day camp is dismantled, and after shaking hands
and promises to keep in touch, Andrei, Peter and myself
travel with Sascha to Nedzura near Akhaldaba to mountainous
region (about 800 m) following the Mtkvari river to about
140 km east of Tbilisi where a biological station of the
Institute of Zoology is situated. In the evening again Pipistrelle
and Pygmy bats are observed, but much less then in the flood
plain forest. One Pipistrelle bats with a completely torn
wing membrane between the third and fourth is flying high
up along a forest edge showing no difficulty in flying at
all. Few Whiskered/Brandt's bats are observed. And then,
causing excitement again, Serotine-like bats, using the
typical Serotine rhythm with tonal quality on about 28-30
kHz. Could this be Eptesicus nilssonii? Another 'new' species?
In the hunting situation in the narrow valley they certainly
sounded like northern bats. It was dark and the bats just
passed a couple of times, not good enough to really see
something. Still my impression was that these very well
could be Northern bats. Luckily good recordings were made,
showing us afterwards, that whenever these bats had longer
pulses with longer QCF and slower pulse rates, their frequency
went down to 25 or even 24 kHz. Eptesicus serotinus. A short
trip to the open area at the Mtkvari river revealed nothing
but cold strong wind, no bats. The next morning before travelling
back to Tbilisi we had a look inside a building with a known
roost of Lesser Horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus hipposideros).
We counted about 40 individuals of which 20 where hanging
in a tight cluster. On our way towards Nedzura and back
again to Tbilisi we visited some old monasteries of which
one in caves in a rock face above the Mtkvari. Here horseshoe
bats had been seen on other occasions, bot we had no luck
this time.
We still had one evening in Tbilisi before our flight home.
This evening was spend to scan several water bodies around
Tbilisi for possible Daubenton's bats. At a large reservoir
east of the city a strong wind was blowing. In a sheltered
edge we discovered a huge number of Pipistrelle and Pygmy
bats literally swarming close to the water. Night jars could
be seen hunting with them against the light evening sky.
The river and a smaller lake in the forest again brought
us Pipistrelle an Pygmy bats and no Daubenton's or other
species. We had to leave to sleep some, get to the airport
and say good bye to new friends! Firm plans to go there
again to work together again and visit the lowlands in the
east near the Black sea coast to find some more Daubenton's,
and maybe even Pond bats?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Successful Slovenian Workshop
From the 19th until 23rd of May 2000 a bat detector workshop
was held in the Over Mura region in the very north east
of Slovenia near the Hungarian and Croatian border. A school
in the town Turniš?e was our home base.
The workshop was organised by the Section of Bat Research
and Conservation of the Society of Students of Biology of
the University of Ljubljana, where most of the organising
work was done by Maja Zagmajster . 11 Slovenian bat workers
and students as well as 5 Croatian colleagues took part
in the fieldwork and lectures. Lothar Bach from Germany
assisted in teaching and fieldwork.
On the first evening gravel pits and lakes in the vicinity
of Dobrovnik and Turniš?e were visited for a starter.
Here Eptesicus serotinus, Nyctalus noctula Myotis daubentonii
where easily recognised. The 'new' pipistrellus species
Pipistrellus pygmaeus, and the 'old' P. pipistrellus weren't
difficult to detect and identify either. The presence of
both Pipistrellus nathusii as well as Pipistrellus kuhlii
however, intermingled with pygmaeus and pipistrellus, provided
a difficult puzzle. At street lamps in the surroundings
we found N. noctula hunting and on a lake in a forest nearby
just few M. daubentonii. The single M. mystacinus/brandtii
in the forest did not really allow demonstration of and
practice with this species group.
In the second night a visit to a beautiful castle in the
village Grad brought us to the north of the Over Mura region.
Here 131 emerging Miniopterus schreibersii were counted.
A tremendously fast and spectacular species, which in the
early evening could also be observed hunting over lawns
and meadows around the castle. Here, between hunting P.
pygmaeus and P. pipistrellus, differences between the '55
kHz pip' and Schreiber's bat were obvious. A short moment,
but important for learning!
After all Schreiber's bats had emerged and quiet returned
to the roost exit some Plecotus auritus/austricacus could
be observed flying in and out. Already before emergence
time some solitary Myotis myotis in crevices and Rhinolophus
hipposideros in niches were found in the cellars. The echo-locating
lesser horseshoe bats let us practise tuning to the best
listening frequency as was discussed in the afternoons lectures
and demonstrated the change of pitch in the detectors sound
when tuning towards or from the optimal 110 kHz in this
species. However, we left those bats alone quite soon to
not disturb them to much.
Soon the evening grew cold and a dense fog came up. A passing
greater mouse-eared bat in the village could only be heard
and hardly seen. We decided to return to base to get to
bed 'early' and spend the time the next day instead to practise
sound analysis with the recordings of the first two nights.
On our way back, stops at the larger Ledavsko jezera and
smaller Mhle Grabe brought us nothing but lonely M. daubentonii
flying above these waters. Sounds heard, and only seconds
of a silhouette in the fog. Calling young Long-eared owls
contributed to the nightly atmosphere.
In the third night fieldwork was directed on the flood
plain forest, oxbows, and river of the Mura Landscape Park
bordering Slovenia and Croatia. After a spectacular flight
and sound show of N. noctula and an occasional E. serotinus
we accidentally hit a flight path of M. daubentonii. Excitement
made us forget the mosquito's. Theory on following flight
paths could now be brought into practice. Some stayed behind
to count the bats passing on the flight path. The rest embarked
on 'rowing against the stream' of Daubenton's bats. A fantastic
learning situation where the route could be followed for
about 1 kilometre along the edge of a forest and old oxbow,
before no bats were passing any longer. Work which, in the
high and wet vegetation and because of the oxbow we somehow
had to cross, was much more difficult than it had looked
like in the afternoons slide presentation. At strategic
points in the landscape we left someone behind to count
the passing stream there. From this we learned that somehow
a couple of routes used by the bats contributed to a count
of 126 M. daubentonii at the point close to the river.
The forest edge was also used as an entrance into the forest
by N. noctula and a lot of social sounds where heard near
a specific group of trees. Behaviour which looked like swarming
in their crowns had been observed when we passed them during
our chase of the Daubenton's. From the last point where
we had heard those passing, we therefore made our way back
through the forest following the edge on the inside. Here
a vast number of M. mystacinus/brandtii could be observed.
They hunted in circles around our head and provided excellent
opportunity to learn and practice their identification.
Young Tawny owls were present to demonstrate the difference
to the owls observed the previous night. No Noctules.
At the river bank and above the river we found N. noctula,
M. daubentonii, and again the puzzle of P. pygmaeus, pipistrellus
and kuhlii. Although we monitored the frequency band around
35 kHz for a long time, no pond bat nor Nathusius pipistrelle
were seen. On our way back to the cars an alternative route
brought us a fantastic observation of a M. nattereri which
hunted continuously for minutes in the vegetation above
our heads without being disturbed by our lamps. Differences
to the whiskered and Daubenton's bats in flight, wing shape,
sound and rhythm could be acknowledged by all observers.
After a meal, and folk singing in Slovenian, Croatian,
German and Dutch languages, we visited some gravel pits
in the river valley. Again temperature dropped and some
fog appeared. No bat activity at all. Freshly emerged dragonflies
(Anaciaeshna isoceles) kept us busy for a while. Despite
the low temperature we decided to have a try at picking
up the flight path again, went back and worked our way through
the wet vegetation and through and over the oxbow to the
last point of the evening. Inside the forest the activity
of the whiskered bats began to drop. Outside still not much
going on. Suddenly some Daubenton's started passing again
but in much lower intervals as in the evening flight route
behaviour. Another 500 m of route could be added but it
got light without the reward of the roost found. A last
Noctule dived into the forest edge again. Totally wet, muddy
and tired, everybody was enthusiastic about this wonderful
night.
The next, our last evening we decided to have another go
at the Daubenton's flight path. The team was spread in a
row along the forest edge from the point they last were
seen. We were early and also tried to get more information
on the Noctules. They suddenly appeared from above the forest
and for the first hour we were entertained by several Noctules
who kept flying along the edge and adjacent reed fields.
P. pipistrellus, pygmaeus and kuhlii appeared at the forest
edge and an occasional whiskered bat. When the first Daubenton's
appeared the row started moving against the stream. Lothar
checked alternative routes on some forest roads inside the
forest. The activity on the flight path was much less then
the day before. Careful to not miss the spot where they
might emerge from the forest we worked our way to a bend
in the forest edge where they did come out. Inside the forest
we learned that we did not have much chance to follow the
route, because there were hunting M. mystacinus/brandtii
everywhere. One big clutter of sound as if the whole forest
was full of swarming bats. After studying whiskered bats
and some Natterer's bats we had to give up.
Last we visited an almost landed oxbow inside the forest
where Daubenton's bats were hunting close to the little
open water that was left, and showed us that under these
conditions the do also fly higher above the water and also
in and out the forest. In the forest again whiskered bats
were present in numbers. Here the differences in size, length
of wings, tonal quality and rhythm of the sound could be
studied once again.
A successful Slovenian Workshop: Without tasting the success
of finding a roost, these four evenings and nights gave
us 13 species to enjoy and study! Great!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worlds meet in Romania
Number 4 of the bat detector workshops in south eastern
Europe in 2000, was held near Oradea in the western part
of Romania from June 14/15th until June 18/19th. Locally
everything was very well organised by Szanto Laszlo and
Nagy Zoltan from the Societatea Eco Studia. A total of fourteen
bat scientists, from different Institutes and Universities,
as well as amateur bat workers from all over the country
gathered for the event. A success, and a good starting point
for the development of a bat network and a bat NGO in Romania,
because even until the very beginning of the workshop interested
people not yet known to the organizers came to take part.
Most people originated from the field of bio-speleology,
and everything about bat detectors, bat sounds and echolocation
was new to them.
We had chosen the west part of Romania near the Hungarian
border, because in this part of Hungary, in the Tisza valley,
the pond bat (Myotis dasycneme) is known to occur. From
the Romanian side a number of rivers contribute to the Tisza.
Here we expected to have good chances to find the pond bat.
The actual workshop site was just south west of the village
Cefa, in an area with large ponds and lakes (> 1000 ha)
in the flood plain of the river Criš, and adjacent
to a large forest reserve. The local school in Cefa hosted
us for the lectures and a campsite was established on a
pasture between forest and lakes.
After some initial problems, involving lost luggage and
stolen money, I arrived in Cefa on the evening of the 15th
when it was already dark. We decided to not lose any more
time and get out in the field for some hours around the
camp site. Detectors were distributed and initial handling
explained. A strong wind was blowing over the lakes, which
kept the bats we encountered close to some trees. The first
puzzle to solve was a difficult one right away: a larger
number of Pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and
Kuhl's pipistrelles (P. kuhlii) with an occasional Nathusius
pipistrelle (P. nathusii). Kuhl's pipistrelle being rather
extraordinary, because it had only been found once, in one
single specimen, before. How to explain how to deal with
this, without the theoretical background on sound and detectors
which was scheduled for tomorrow? We kept it to enjoying
watching and hearing the bats for now. Noctules (Nyctalus
noctula), neglecting the stronger wind, were everywhere
above us, and every now and then a Serotine (Eptesicus serotinus)
passed lower to the ground. Together these species demonstrated
a variety of frequencies and rhythms enabling the participants
to experience these differences. The wind died out and we
could concentrate on the water surfaces. An occasional Daubenton's
bat (Myotis daubentonii) and now, more spread out, individual
Pipistrellus species hunting along the bank of the lakes
could be observed. When we arrived back at the lake nearest
to the camp site the detectors alarmed. An incredibly large
number of Daubenton's was hunting at this particular lake.
Where ever it was pointed, at least 10 individuals were
seen in the beam of a strong torch. An impressive spectacle.
There must be a large roost of these around here somewhere.
In the breaks in the lectures in the afternoon the first
roosts on attics were discovered already: a few Greater
horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) and some Grey
long-eared bats (Plecotus austriacus) Following the theory
on roost finding, discussed in the afternoon's sessions,
we started in the evening along a channel running from the
forest to the lakes. This could be the flight path Daubenton's
bats would take to commute between forest and lakes. Now
everybody was prepared with a first days load of information
on detectors and species, and was eager to listen to bats.
Our patience therefore was low, and before any Daubenton's
were observed, hunting Noctules drew us away from our stake
out. On the forest edge some Noctules were chasing each
other, with steep dives very close to the ground. The first
Pipistrelles, pipistrellus and kuhlii, appeared, and everybody
was engaged in trying to tune the detectors according to
instruction, and to try and observe wing shapes and flight
styles.
We strolled along a road between two lakes and got a point
where this same channel, hidden by reed, run along both
lakes and underneath the road. We were standing on top of
a water passage. Some fast dry Myotis sounds were heard
again and again. It toke us some moments before we realized
that these were Daubenton's bats passing us around our ankles.
Their flight along the channel and along the bank of the
lakes lead them to this point were they hopped across the
road very close to the ground. Concentrating on them showed
that at this point over a stretch of maybe 10 meters Daubenton's
were passing continuously. It was difficult to count exact
numbers but this was definitely a very very big flight path.
We decided to head for the channel entering the forest
again in the morning. Now we would first visit some larger
lakes to try and find the pond bat. On the larger water
surfaces which were inspected we only found some - not many
? - Daubenton's. Were did al these Daubenton's from the
flight path go? Well, there were a lot of lakes and we were
only looking at a small part of this water area. Some of
these animals hunting close to the water seemed to be somewhat
bigger and flying faster, but no clear sign of pond bats
could be observed. Again Noctules were above us almost continuously,
and Serotines passed by every now and then. A few times
we encountered a passing Greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus
ferrumequinum) which was picked up at its weaker fundamental
harmonic at 40 kHz, but was gone again before we could tune
to 80 kHz. Again the mixture of Pipistrelle, Kuhl's and
Nathusius bats were observed.
The status of the observation of the Kuhl's bats with the
bat detector was discussed. How could we find so many of
them, when they were never been observed a lot before? A
new technique - the bat detectors - can reveal new insights.
But could we be misidentifying them with the detector? In
my opinion the identification is okay, but because these
are observations in an area were the species was not known
to occur before, should be used as a inspiration to try
and find roosts to double check the identification! This
workshop is only a starting point!
After midnight we made a short visit to the forest to try
and find some other species. Some Whiskered / Brandt's bats
(Myotis mystacinus/brandtii) were heard hunting along the
forest edge. Unfortunately not very much and not very clear.
Not very suitable for demonstrating and teaching about this
species.
Upon entering the forest we immediately found another species
we had not seen before: The Pygmy pipistrelle (Pipistrellus
pygmaeus) on 55 kHz. This species was never observed in
Romania with the bat detector, but was suspected to present
in the large clusters of many thousands of hibernating 'Pipistrellus'
bats known from this area of Romania. We only needed to
walk in or out of the forest to get or not get Pygmy pipistrelles
in the detector.
Following a forest road we suddenly heard some dry and
fast rhythm which was continuously around us. This must
be some Myotis again. After a while we discovered the source
of these sounds. Some small to middle sized Myotid bats
swarming around an Ash tree (Fraxinus exelsior). We could
see some entering the woodpecker hole and had found our
first roost just by chance! They could only be Daubenton's
or Whiskered/Brandt's bats. Which one of those was difficult
to tell from the swarming bats. They seemed pretty small
tough. Whiskered/Brandt's? The hole was quite near the ground
and the plan to catch the on the next evening was already
made.
We headed for the channel entering the forest, and found
Daubenton's commuting or hunting above the water. They were
still passing us in both directions, but counting of the
numbers passing from right to left and from left to right
revealed a net flux of bats into the forest. We started
to follow them along the channel inside the forest. It got
lighter and lighter and the direction and flight speed of
the bats became more clear. They seemed to be leaving the
channel on the opposite side. We were on the wrong side
to follow them. It is always like this. But we were lucky
and found some old broken down bridge, which some of us,
desperately wanting to follow the bats, dared to cross.
Following the bats along the channel and forest edge brought
me to another Ash tree with swarming Daubenton's. But other
Daubenton's kept on following the channel. More roosts to
be expected down there. I put a lot of sticks around the
tree to find it again later on.
On the next evening one group of us netted at the tree
along the road and another went to count the emerging bats
at the tree along the channel. Unfortunately the 'exited
netting party' made a lot of noise near the roost. The bats
alarmed bats stayed in much almost longer then expected.
But the first emerging bat - about 45 minutes later than
from the tree at the channel - hopped into the hand net
and could be identified: A subadult female Myotis daubentonii
with no signs of pregnancy or lactation. The first Daubenton's
roost to be found in Romania!. There were more bats in the
tree. but they refused to come out. To not disturb them
any longer we gave up netting. At the tree near the channel
a larger bat - a Noctule ? - had come out early and about
19 Daubenton's later on when it was quite dark already.
They had discovered more than one hole in the tree were
they left and assumed to have missed some emerging bats.
Before the first bat emerged from the tree, there were already
Daubenton's passing along the channel.
After exchanging experiences at the roosts we again went
for the lakes. On the first larger water surface we inspected
we instantly heard loud smacking sounds on 35 kHz. Between
a couple of hunting Daubenton's a bigger bat showed itself
again and again, flying fast and straight close to the water
surface, with these unmistakable tonal quality 'pjiep pjoup
pjop' sounds on 35 kHz: the pond bat (Myotis dasycneme).
We were exited. Via the dams between the ponds and lakes
we tried as much open water surface as possible. And on
most of the open surface the pond bat was present. A landscape
with large open water, in a very open windy lowland area
without much vegetation. Only reed on the bank of the lakes.
Moonlight reflecting on the water and on the bats above
the surface. Some low mist to create an atmosphere. Beautiful.
That's why we are out there in the middle of the night.
And of course we enjoyed the Noctules, Serotines, and the
three Pipistrellus species.
In this habitat, typical for the pond bat, we started to
encounter more and more long whistling sounds on 40 kHz.
Greater horseshoe bats again! Now we were lucky. No short
passages of bats, but greater horseshoe bats hunting above
the reed vegetation which could be excellently seen in the
moonlight. Leaving us all the time we needed to tune to
80 kHz and hear them even better. A landscape which I didn't
associate with horseshoe bats at all, but here they were,
with pond bats on the background. Here on the border between
Hungary and Romania worlds seem to meet.
The next day most of the participants left satisfied about
all they head experienced. Zoltan and Laszlo and myself
stayed behind for one more evening to try the Criš
in the surrounding area. We started in a small village along
the Criš between Cefa and Oradea. It seemed to take
for ever before the first bats were heard, but the first
to be heard were pond bats again. Not many, but they were
there. Besides these Kuhl's pipistrelles. We moved toward
Oradea and on an old oxbow near another village we found
a large number of hunting pond bats. Close to houses, and
this oxbow was connected to the Criš via a channel.
There was bat traffic on this channel too. If only I didn't
have to leave early the next morning, because this is the
route to the first pond bat roost in Romania! Work for Zoltan
and Laszlo and the others to carry on. We made a couple
of stops at the Criš in Oradea. On all of these sample
points: Pond bats (!) and Pygmy pipistrelles, and on most
of the points also Noctules, Serotines, Kuhl's pipistrelles
and an occasional Nathusius' pipistrelle. I think a lot
of the participants and certainly Zoltan and Laszlo have
definitely caught fire. Now that we heave met our colleagues
in Romania, and got to know each other, we will hear more
from Romania. I'm going to watch my email for messages!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tamaza Moldova
The fifth bat detector training workshop for colleagues
in south east Europe in 2000 was held in Moldova from July
5th until July 10th. Local organisers were Sergiu Andreev
and his colleagues from the Grupul Fauna and Angela Sochirca
from the International Relations Division of the Moldovan
Ministry of the Environment and Territorial Development.
Olga Kiseliova from the Moldova State University did most
of the translation work and Peter Lina accompanied me and
assisted in the workshop. 10 Moldovan bat workers (zoologists
and students) and two people from a radio station took part.
On the 6th of July we travelled with two small busses in
the direction of T?lmaza about 100 km's to the south east
of Chi?in?u. A long and hot journey over sometimes difficult
roads which brought us to the border of the floodplain of
the Dniester river. Here we were hosted by the people of
the village. The major of T?lmaza and the school's principal
- a biologist - welcomed us and organised everything. Lectures
and discussions were at the local school, where some very
friendly people of T?lmaza also took care of all the meals.
Lodging was at the peoples houses. Although communication
constantly needed a translator, there was a warm contact
and we were very good taken care of. It could not have been
better.
In the evening we went to a beautiful floodplain forest
directly at the Dniester which was going to be our field
site for the workshop. Part of the flood plain was excluded
from the river by dikes and destroyed by agriculture. The
margins of the river were still quite natural, although
through regulation of the river the natural dynamics, who
once must have been the developing force behind this beautiful
forest, were now no longer active. It was good to hear that
a GEF-project was proposed to restore and develop the natural
site along the river and the water management, and even
try to get flooding in the agricultural area again. Our
data on the bats could help a little bit to demonstrate
the value of the area.
The journey to the river with a large bus on 'of the road'
tires was an adventure on it self again. We were quite late
because travelling was difficult and just took time. The
new detectors for Moldova were unpacked and stocked with
batteries while bouncing over muddy field roads. Upon leaving
the bus we were already greeted by the Noctules (Nyctalus
noctula) over our heads. We immediately started to practise
tuning. Serotines (Eptesicus serotinus) were discovered
and enhanced training possibilities. On the forest edge
we found Pipistrellus species. On 38 kHz in the open, on
about 40 closer to the forest. Some Pipistrelles (Pipistrellus
pipistrellus) passed by to show us that this species is
on about 45 kHz. So these '38 kHz' pipistrelles were Pipistrellus
kuhlii. Kuhl's pipistrelles are hardly known from Moldova.
We found a lot. It will be necessary therefore to try and
find roosts and catch animals. Later, on the river bank,
again in the open, we found some - not much - Nathusius'
pipistrelles (P. nathusii) with QCF-frequencies (best listening
frequencies) on 35 kHz and their typical two syllable social
call. Again adding evidence that those on 38 kHz must be
something else i.e. Kuhl's pipistrelles.
Some rain - the first since April - came up and we sought
shelter inside the forest. Upon entering the forest this
other pipistrelle - expected but not yet recorded in Moldova
- the Pygmy pipistrelle was heard. Everybody glad, everybody
tuning and experiencing where you get it and where you don't.
I made TE recordings for later analysis and evidence. In
the shelter of the trees also Whiskered/Brandt's bats (Myotis
mystacinus/brandtii) were observed and differences to the
'tonal quality species' we heard before studied. We had
to pause some time because of the strong rain and wind.
After the storm had settled the night was quiet, warm and
humid. Excellent for mosquitoes who fed on us - despite
the repellent - to later on feed the bats. So we had nothing
to complain about, really. We tried the river and found
a lot of Daubenton's bats (Myotis daubentonii), among which
we sometimes thought to observe a bigger and faster bat
- possibly the Pond bat ? No clear evidence for them however.
Towards the morning we entered the forest again. A lot
of Pygmy pipistrelles, but no other species. Then we heard
loud social sounds and started working our way through the
vegetation of the track. We found a big white popular tree,
who was broken and bend over at a height of about 6 meters
to form an arch. At the bend small bats where swarming with
relatively dry FM sounds. Whenever a bat was further away
from the tree tonal quality appeared on about 55 kHz: Pygmy
pipistrelles! They went in and out at the many small crevices
in the tree exactly at the bend. Plans for catching on the
next evening were made. We went on to find two other trees
- again giant white poplars - which, judging on the social
sounds heard from the tree, housed Noctules.
On the evening of the 7th of July we were in the forest
early to set up mist nets and to device a hand net on a
5 m long stick. Two groups were send of to check on and
count the emerging Noctules. A small party stayed with the
mist net. And I handled the hand net under the bent in the
poplar tree from which we hoped to catch Pygmy bats. We
were waiting for the bats and somehow surviving the mosquito
attacks. Awful. Then the bats started to emerge and the
mosquitoes were forgotten for a while. After about 5 bats
came out, I gently held the net just below a crevice from
which one of them had just emerged. Now, of course, the
next bats emerged from other crevices. But eventually one
jumped in the net. The net was carefully lowered to Sergiu
and Peter who took the bat out, and the net was brought
in position again. Soon an other one was captured. Both
of them lactating Pygmy pipistrelle females. The first record
of this species and the first maternity roost of this species
in Moldova, and the first maternity roost of this species
in a tree. Sergui and myself kept counting - while waving
our hand around our head to scare away the mosquitoes. During
the time the net was lowered and the bat were handled the
counting was less accurate, so the number of 166 between
21.00 hours and 21.55 was the minimum number of adult Pygmy
bats in this tree. Wow!. The other groups returned, reported
17 and 24 emerging Noctules. They all had a look at the
Pygmy bats which were then quickly released again. Hiking
along the river and through the forest brought us the same
species as the previous night again. In the morning a small
group of us - it is hard to stay awake all night in the
field - tried to find flight directions of returning Daubenton's
bats on the river. They all headed for the forest. An now
suddenly there definitely were bigger and very fast bats
among the bats passing over the water, with their best listening
frequency at 35 kHz. Some of the very typical tonal quality
'Pjiep poup pop' sounds gave them away: Pond bats (Myotis
dasycneme). A pity that not everybody had seen them.
In the late afternoon of July 8th we were a the river early
for a traditional shaslik meal with the major, school's
principal and the people that hosted us. It was great. Good
food in a beautiful floodplain forest. Looking at kingfishers,
bee-eaters and rollers. And we were going to stay one more
night in this forest with all its bats again. But at the
end of the meal a thunder storm and strong rains came. We
had to hurry to get out of the flood plain before the roads
would be so muddy that the bus would get stuck. It poured
all our slippery way to the village. But then the sun broke
through again. Under the rainbow we decided to concentrate
at the village bats. The flood plain was to inaccessible
at the moment. The school's housekeeper showed us a spot
were droppings were found. Here we counted 25 emerging Serotines
and caught a subadult male. We started wandering through
the village and had some very short contacts with Pipistrelle
species around 40 kHz. To short to really identify them.
New thunderstorms and rain came. We all fled to our beds
and were to tired to be bothered by the thunder and lightning
and unbelievable rain which poured all night. The next morning,
on Sunday we now had more time to finish the last bits of
theory and have a round table discussion on the future of
bat conservation in Moldova. A challenge which now, through
the contacts established with the Moldovan bat workers,
has become a challenge for the whole net work of European
bat workers.
Herman Limpens
|
