Bats, BBQ & moth-trapping ... An Excellent Hampshire Evening Out!

A client travelled on our 'Hampshire - A Hampshire Bat Evening' holiday and submitted this entry to our writing competition.

Brown Long-eared Bat

Hampshire Bat Evening

On Friday 10th August, Jon Stokes led our inaugural ‘Hampshire Bat Evening’. Our group saw plenty of Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, Natterer’s Bat, Daubenton’s Bat and Long-eared Bat. What makes the Basingstoke Canal, where our group was based for the evening, so superb for a bat enthusiast, is the nearly continuous sound of bat calls that can be picked up on bat detectors. During the walk our group heard all the species they saw, plus Noctule Bat. Other highlights included seeing many fish in the canal, including a fair-sized Pike and a rare floating liverwort in the canal called Ricciocarpus natans.

Before setting off on their evening's bat quest, participants enjoyed a BBQ at our Cheriton Mill offices and some moth trap viewing. Key moths seen included Elephant Hawkmoth, Black Arches, Ruby Tiger, Canary-shouldered Thorn, Magpie Moth and Pebble Hook-tip.

Read more about our 'Hampshire - A Hampshire Bat Evening' holiday.