Our first week of Walkfest has gone from hot and humid on the 1st September for our Newlands Corner walk through to torrential rain a couple of days later. Disappointingly, we had to cancel two of the walks due to the bad weather - but never fear, we'll try to incorporate them next year.
The second of the two cancellations was the Horsley Meadows walk on Friday morning so it was with some trepidation that we set out for the Friday evening walk from Guildford Town Bridge for an session of bat watching (and listening!). The rain threatened several times but came to nothing. Would the bats have a night off and stay home in the dry? Only time would tell.
After our group had been introduced to our bat experts James Alvarez & Caroline Fillingam from Surrey Bat Group we had a little introductory talk to help us understand more about bats and their habits. We were then issued with 'Bat Detectors'. These electronic devices can pick up the sounds of the bats and convert them to a frequency which humans can hear. Thus, we were told, we would be able to hear the bats eating the insects, distinguish between types by the different sound profiles and get some idea of where they were flying. So how did we get on?
Well, we soon got the hang of the devices as we strolled along towards Millmead Lock. We picked up a few clicks and odd sounds and then, just as we reached the footbridge by the lock, we heard many of the detectors picking up bat sounds. As James flashed a powerful torch along the waterway to point us towards the source of the sound we all saw a bat flashing from side to side above a tree not far in front of us. Our first success!
Encouraged by our new-found expertise we then headed down onto the grass and approached the river, close to the lock. After a few minutes, more bat sounds - and then more and more. James with his torch occasionally helped us to see what it was we could hear and distinguished between Pipistrelles and Daubenton’s.
Throughout the evening James and Caroline gave us lots of information about bats in general and the ones we were detecting. With their e-notebooks in hand they showed us pictures and video and explained about their work - particularly the bat rescue and recuperation which is a large part of their life.
At the end of a really satisfying walk, we headed back through the darkness to the Town Bridge for a brief wrap-up chat and the obligatory event photo - complete with Walkfest representatives and a bunch of newly converted bat-watchers.
Many thanks to Sarah Davis (our walk organiser from Guildford Carbon Zero) who suggested the walk and set up this fascinating evening.
Oh, but that wasn't the end of the evening's entertainment. Sarah had organised a space for us at The Boathouse, a recently opened venue on the river at the far end of the Millbrook carpark. Here we were able to socialise, discuss our new experiences and generally relax after a great evening walk doing something that was new to Walkfest. I suspect that this will be on the event list for next year!
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