The acoustic world of bats is fascinating. Bat Conservation Ireland would like to introduce you to this world and provide you with the knowledge and bat detector skills to undertake your own batsurvey.  This introductory level course, is suitable for people keen to learn more about their local bat populations including members of local community groups, enthusiastic naturalists and graduates in ecology and environmental science.

The course will be run in 4 parts, as outlined below:

Module 1

Introduction to Irish bat species and their ecology – 8 June 2021                      

• Bats in Ireland
• Ecological requirements of each Irish bat species
• Distributions of each Irish bat species and where to find such information

Task 1: For your county of residence, prepare a profile of the bat species present. Answer the following questions: 1) areas within their county where Bat Hot Spots are present, 2) the bat species list for these Bat Hot Spots and 3) brief habitat descriptions of Bat Hot Spots.

Task 2: Start thinking about an area that they would like to survey for bats and prepare a species profile of known bat records within a 10km square of the proposed survey area.

Module 2

How to survey for bats using bat detectors and participate in the Irish Bat Monitoring Programme – 13 July 2021                     

      Part 1 – What is a Bat Survey?

• Introduction to what is echolocation
• How to use a heterodyne bat detector
• Description of the echolocation calls of each bat species in Ireland
• How to identify Ireland’s bat species using heterodyne bat detectors
• What is a Bat Survey – Part 1 An Introduction?

Task 3: If the participant has access to a bat detector, undertake a bat survey to document the bat species present in your chosen area.

Module 3

Bat technology and introduction to sonograms analysis of bat echolocation calls – 10 August 2021               

      Part 2 – What is a Bat Survey?

• Introduction into time expansion, frequency division and real-time bat detectors
• Passive verses active surveys
• What is sonogram analysis?
• What is a Bat Survey – Part 2 A review of the different types of bat surveys that can be undertaken.
• Analysis of bat survey results from Task 3.

Task 4: five sonograms will be sent to the participants to explore and identify using free sonogram software.

Task 5: participants will be asked to prepare a summary of their bat surveys for the 4^th session.

Module 4

How to survey for bats in your area? Putting our Tuesday Training into practice – 14 September 2021      

      Q&A session on Bat Surveys undertaken

• Using Case Studies, recommended survey practice will be discussed.

 

Course Format:

• 1.5 hrs training sessions by Zoom with 30 minutes of discussion.
• Support videos on You Tube channel.
• Homework will be optional at the end of each session in order for the participants to practice what they have learned.
• Building up to the 4^th session where participants can submit results of bat survey of their area choice.
• Participants will be encouraged to join the waterways survey and roost counts where applicable.
• Confirmation on how to attend each course will be e-mailed to you separately

A limited number of places are available for this course, so early booking is advised.

Booking

The full cost of all 4 modules is €180.00, which can be booked below.  Modules can be booked individually at a cost of €60 for non-members and €55 for members for each module.

To book separate modules, please click on the module you are interested in below:

• Module 1 – Introduction to Irish bat species and their ecology – 8 June 2021          
• Module 2 – How to survey for bats using bat detectors and participate in the Irish Bat Monitoring Programme – 13 July 2021               
• Module 3 – Bat technology and introduction to sonograms analysis of bat echolocation calls – 10 August 2021        
• Module 4 – How to survey for bats in your area? Putting our Tuesday Training into practice – 14 September 2021