Essex mammals in 2000
Date___________Common Seal_____Grey Seal
1st July_________11 plus 2 pups___________________
2nd July________34 plus 2 pups___________4______
8th July_________17____________________________
9th July_________22 plus 2 pups___________8
15th July________9 plus 1 pup____________________
16th July________10 plus 2 pups___________________
22nd July_______9 plus 1 pup____________________
23rd July________16 plus 2 pups___________1_______
29th July________16 plus 3 pups___________1_______
30th July________19 plus 2 pups___________5
10th September 20 plus 4 pups___________20______
24th September 20 20
On both 2nd July and 29th July, the pups were considered to be new bora.
There were additional records of Common Seals seen resting on sandbanks off Leigh and
Westcliff during the autumn, with another observed at East Tilbury on 5th November.
Bats in Essex in 2000
JOHN DOBSON
148 Main Road, Danbury, Essex CM3 4DT
The total of bats using the hibernacula developed from war-time bunkers at Coggeshall increased to
a new record count of 44 individuals on 4th January. The count of 24 Brown Long-eared Bats on 2nd
February was also a record. The total of bats at the other key hibernation site in the county - the Grays
deneholes - was down, with a peak count of 63 bats (38 Daubenton's and 25 Natterer's) in early
January. It seems probable that the mild weather during the winter had enabled bats to hibernate
successfully above ground rather than enter this underground system. Supporting evidence for this
view occurred later in the year when, on 1st December, during a spell of extremely mild and wet
weather, just eight bats were counted at Coggeshall during the fi rst count of the second winter period.
Notable records away from hibernation sites include the following:
Natterer's Bat Myotis nattereri (Kuhl 1818)
In May several droppings were found in the church porch at Bentley near Brentwood and droppings
present in Great Saling church (TL72) constituted a new 10km square record.
Daubenton's Bat Myotis daubentonii (Kuhl 1819)
The first record of foraging bats occurred at Danbury Lakes on 14th March and a cluster of 30 bats
were observed at Great Braxted during mid-May. A colony bred during late May at Beeleigh with
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 18 (2001)
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