Our latest Bat Walk in Borsdane Wood proved to be an enjoyable and informative evening, with 11 adults and two very excited children joining us to explore the woods as daylight faded.

A huge thank you goes to Jeff Gorse, who led the walk and shared his knowledge of the wildlife found throughout the wood. As well as searching for bats, there was plenty of opportunity to learn about some of the fungi and plants encountered along the way.

As the light began to disappear, the group was rewarded with sightings of pipistrelle bats flitting through the half-light. Although signals on the bat detectors were fairly quiet for much of the walk, things became considerably more active as the group returned towards the tunnel entrance, with plenty of echolocation clicks picked up by the detectors.

Unfortunately, those final bat calls had to compete with the rather less natural sounds of the funfair on the Market Square. Nevertheless, it was a lovely evening and it was great to see people enjoying the wood in a completely different way after dark.

The feedback afterwards was wonderful, with participants describing the walk as “very enjoyable and informative” and praising Jeff’s knowledge and enthusiasm.

Thank you to everyone who came along and helped make the evening such a success — and especially to Jeff for giving his time and expertise.

We hope to organise more Bat Walks in Borsdane Wood next spring, so keep an eye on our website and Facebook page for future dates.