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The Essex Naturalist
Daubenton's bat Myotis daubentonii (Kuhl, 1819)
For the first time an individual was recorded feeding over the lakes at Marks
Hall and perhaps the same one hibernated for part of the winter in a nearby
bunker. A cluster of 30 bats was found in a mill near Maldon in June and the
only other report away from hibernation sites was of one found at Debenhams,
Lakeside Shopping Centre in September.
Parti-Coloured bat Vespertilio murinus (L., 1758)
On 5th June, Jonathan Greenwood, a Colchester teacher found an emaciated
bat on a bridge in the Roman River Valley. It proved to be a male parti-coloured
bat, only the 6th for mainland Britain.
This species is a migrant, occurring from Central Europe and Scandinavia to
Siberia and Iran. The last British record also involved Essex - a female found in
Chadwell Heath in October 1994.
Noctule Nyctalus noctula (Schreber, 1774)
The earliest records of the year were of bats seen feeding over Danbury Lakes in
late March and another found in Clacton on 28th. New 10km square records
during 1996 were from Stansted, East Mersea and Daws Hall, Lamarsh.
Leisler's bat Nyctalus leisleri (Kuhl, 1818)
Most notable was a count of 59 bats emerging from a roost in Little Hallingbury.
Other known summer colonies were present at Aveley and Coggeshall but the
only other record was of one found grounded, (and later released) at Great
Totham in May.
Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Schreber, 1774)
Recent research involving DNA analysis has separated two species of Pipistrelle
and this is due to be formally announced in another journal. Both types can be
identified using a bat detector and both have been recorded in Essex. The largest
colonies reported were of 688 bats at Beeleigh, 244 at South Woodham Ferrers
and 235 at Baythorn End. It is hoped to report on the distribution in Essex of
the two species at a later date.
Brown long-eared bat Plecotus auritus (L., 1758)
Up to ten bats were found hibernating in hunkers near Coggeshall and the
first Spring record was of one found dying in Lexden in April. New colonies
were found at Beaumont, Baythorn End, (a new 10km square record),
Faulkbourne, Tendring and Downham. The last record was of an individual
found roosting in the porch of MK Electric on an industrial estate in Eastwood
in late September.
The only other species recorded was Serotine Eptesicus serotinus, with three
sightings during the year.