Bat walk 6th September 2024

Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) have learned over the years to limit our publicity for our bat walks.  so we can limit numbers up to a maximum of 50 people. We put posters on the four gates into Mayow Park and send an email to our mailing list. No social media publicity needed.

For our recent bat walk, we closed our bookings at 50 but we could easily have had many more. Maybe we should hold a extra bat walks in future - even if our expert 'bat man' can't lead them?

The weather on 6th September was true to forecast - rain and more rain. Bats don't like heavy rain! But it was warm so there should be plenty of flying insects for them to eat! Fortunately around 7.30 pm the rain stopped, just in time.

Iain introduced the walk with his usual humorous descriptions of bats, their behaviour and the echolocation sounds they make to help them navigate towards their food.

Iain explains bat habits and behaviour 

Iain lent out his bat detectors to groups of people and explained how to use them. First turn on the device, then set it to a frequency of around 50 kHz which would tune in to the sound of the local pipistrelle bats. When they are nearby we should hear a sound similar to a sloppy wet kiss - that's the sound of the bats. Look out for their fast and erratic flight, changing direction very quickly 

Quite a few children came on the walk, with torches at the ready and very good at handling their bat detectors. What delighted excitement when they heard AND saw the bats. 

Despite the light drizzle, there were plenty of insects to feed these amazing flying mammals. It was a magical evening.

Our participants were very generous with cash donations to Friends of Mayow Park and we raised £60 which will be split between FOMP and the Bat Conservation Trust:  https://www.bats.org.uk

BATS IN THE NIGHT 21 April 2023

Outdoor events can cause weather worries for organisers, commonly ‘will the weather force us to cancel?’.

But a bat walk must factor in the needs of bats too; they are not keen on inclement weather. They prefer mild, still evenings with plenty of flying insects for supper.

Friday 21^st April began very wet and cold. Should we cancel the event? 

The BBC and the Met Office offered assurances for brighter weather by the late afternoon. And that is how it turned out.

The weather improved rapidly. By 8pm when people started to gather at Mayow Park, it was a still evening with clear sky, full of flying treats for bats. 

The meeting point

Iain's intro

     Using a bat detector

Dr Iain Boulton opened the event with some entertaining batty facts. He certainly knows his bats. He brought some bat detectors to lend out to walk attendees, showing us how to set them to around 50 kHz, the frequency for the pipistrelle bats we would hear or see in Mayow Park. The detectors, not much bigger than a mobile phone, catch the sounds made by bats flying above our heads and translate those sounds at a level that humans can hear.

Even before we started the walk, at least one bat was detected between the pavilion and guardian oak tree which stands majestically at the park gates.

Walking slowly in the park, first in half-light then dusk, with the trees standing as silhouettes against the fading light, children moving with torches, an occasional bird flying past and all the time listening for the bats: this is a magical, calming sensation.

                                                                on the walk

The pipistrelles flew out for us at three locations along the south side of the park, along the path between Mayow Road an Recreation Road, while Venus shone down on us from high in the night sky.

A lovely evening. Thank you to all who joined us and to Iain for leading us.

TOTAL ATTENDING 52 + walk leader

36 adults + 12 children + 4 volunteers + Dr Iain Boulton, our walk leader

All photos courtesy of Pippa Moss

GREAT BAT WALK

We had a truly enjoyable bat walk this evening (20th September).  It was a mild evening with a clear sky. Sunset was around 7.15 pm. Moths and other flying insects were active - a good sign as they are food for bats.

Thanks go to Dr Iain Boulton for once again leading a bat walk in our park. While he was explaining about bats and their behaviour to the gathered crowd, one pipistrelle flew over our heads, right on cue. It flew in a loop and back behind the cafe building, seemingly not bothered by the throng of people.

We walked over to the orchard and our bat detectors started cracking as they picked up the sound of bats. We watched as bats few above us. The joy of the park at twilight was only slightly marred by sounds of the planes flying high overhead.

Thank you to to all the wonderful people who came to spend time in the park after dark, when the park is normally off-limits and locked up. Thanks also to Glendale, who manage the park, for agreeing to extend the opening time.

We had a total of 87 people with 52 adults and 35 children, according to the numbers on the sign-in sheets. One couple even spoke in praise of the children who were there. The children were excited and were running around  but interested and well behaved.  We had great feedback. Friends of Mayow Park are planning more bat walks for 2020

Photos thanks to Freda Darr.

Bat walk coming up 20th September 2019

Great bat walk Friday 13th April 2018

What a terrific turnout to the bat walk with more than 100 people meeting outside the cafe in Mayow Park. Although a cool evening, it was dry and there were some insects flying around, making it more likely we would see bats.
After a reminder of health and safety in the park  at dusk, it was the turn of Dr Boulton to talk bats.  Dr Boulton introduced himself, gave some general information about the bats we might see and explained how to use the bat detectors.
People organised into groups with one bat detector per group and it was time to set off round the park. Some followed Dr Boulton and others  meandered in other directions. Over the next hour, as the evening grew darker and our eyes became accustomed to low light levels, some found it easier to look for flying bats rather than to use the detectors.
By the end of the walk many people had seen bats flying around although it was noted that most of these nocturnal flying mammals tended to fly closer to the back gardens of nearby Bishopsthorpe Road. One explanation put forward for this was that most trees in the park were not yet in leaf after a very long and cold winter while the back gardens, being more sheltered, had more insect-attracting vegetation.
This was a community event organised by Friends of Mayow Park.

BAT WALK coming up in April

The bats of Mayow Park have had to endure a long, cold winter. We hope the weather will warm up in time for our bat walk on 13th April. This is a dusk walk, when the bats should be out hunting for flying insects.

This year park users are celebrating 140 years since the official opening of Mayow Park as a public recreation ground. We are also celebrating 25 years since Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) was formed; it was originally called Mayow Park Users' Group (MPUG). 

Bat walk on 16th September 2016

The day began with heavy rain and remained damp so there was no certainty the bat walk would go ahead.  Our last bat walk in April was washed out, although everyone enjoyed walking through the park in the rain after dark, so we all wanted to see bats this time. Luckily, by 6 o'clock it was clear the rain clouds were blowing away though the sky remained cloudy.

We met up near the pavilion at 7.15 pm,  had a brief introduction to the bats of Britain, a summary of our route through the park and a reminder of any potential hazards.
The event was led by Dr Iain Boulton.  Iain showed us how to use the bat detectors and off we went.

First stop was the 'balcony' overlooking the bowls green and our bat detectors detected bat activity. As our eyes got used to the dark of the trees and the lighter background of the sky we could see the fast flitting of the bats. Better still was when we moved past the bowls green to the space between the green and the tennis courts. With trees along the back of the Bishopsthorpe gardens behind us, the hedge of the bowls green to our right and a number of older trees around, we saw a number of bat silhouettes sweeping against the night sky. According to the bat detectors, we were watching pipistrelle bats.

Moving on along the path between the orchard and tennis courts we could hear more bat activity and saw some bats flying around above the orchard.

These amazing flying mammals have to work hard now to fatten up before they go into hibernation mode for the winter. And where will they hibernate? The old trees in and around Mayow Park have many hollows and some of these are small enough for bats to roost safely away from disturbance from other tree animals in the park. some of the houses nearby may also provide a suitable habitat under the roof tiles.

Reviewing the evening, Iain guessed that we saw around 5 or 6 pipistrelle bats but it would have seemed more because they swirled to and fro.
There were 27 people in total including 7 younger children.
Iain is looking forward to 2017 and has promised another walk next spring. Thank you Iain for helping us to appreciate some of the wildlife of Mayow Park.

50 attendees on bat walk April 2016

The planned bat walk on Saturday 2^nd April 2016 generated a great deal of interest in emails to Friends of Mayow Park and to our Facebook group. Saturday was a mild day, sunny and relatively warm.

Although the weather forecasters predicted rain starting after 7.30 pm it felt as if they were likely to be wrong. . . Unfortunately the forecast was correct.

Fifty people, some with umbrellas, met in the park at 7.45 pm, including twelve children. Dr Iain Boulton, who was leading the walk, gave a brief introduction about bats and about using the bat detectors. He reminded us to use the detectors in a way similar to a torch, pointing at the trees rather than vertically up into the air. Iain gave out the detectors, one per group of people, and we moved off.

We walked through the park, along the path on the southern side, near the Bishopsthorpe Road houses. With plenty of bushes and trees along that path, if the bats were out that would be the place we might pick up their sound on the detectors.

At the holm oak tree, near Recreation Road, we stopped and waited, then returned slowly towards the cafe. Some people walked into the meadow where tall shrubs and trees create a boundary with Mayow Road. Sadly no bats there either, although one young person was certain he spotted one bat.

It had been a great turnout of people and many enjoyed being able to stroll through the park after dark. One boy and his mother went looking at trees in the bushes and found a large toad, which was a thrilling discovery and one which he would remember for a long time.

All the bat detectors were returned and Iain offered to lead another walk, this time in September.  So look out for publicity nearer the time.

Bat Walk 2nd April 2016

We don't know if there are bats in Mayow Park but the old oaks have plenty of potential bat roosts. Join us to find out. Do let us know if you hope to be there; it will  help the walk leader manage the sharing out of bat monitoring equipment.