Overview

Surveying for BATLAS 2020 has been running since 2015 and is now entering its final year (2019). For this survey season we will be concentrating on filling gaps in coverage in the south, particularly in Counties Tipperary, Kerry, Limerick, Waterford and Cork. The project follows on from BATLAS 2010 and aims to inform us how our bat populations are changing in distribution over time. BATLAS 2020 is funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service in the Republic of Ireland.

BATLAS 2010 was carried out in 2008-9 and it greatly increased our knowledge of the distribution of four of our most common bat species. The study suggests that some species may be less common or even absent in coastal areas in the North-West. The target species for BATLAS are:-

• Common pipistrelle
• Soprano pipistrelle
• Leisler’s bat
• Daubenton’s bat

BATLAS 2020 in Northern Ireland also includes a fifth target species, the Nathusius’ pipistrelle.

Get Involved!

Surveying for BATLAS is carried out by volunteers and the scheme is suitable for anyone who has some bat survey experience (beginners may benefit from starting with the Daubenton’s survey before moving onto BATLAS). If you are interested in joining us we would appreciate your help! If you would like to become involved in this final season please email batlas@batconservationireland.org

You can download a BATLAS manual here to find out more about the survey (please consult the island survey manual if you are planning to survey on off-shore islands), there is also an instructional video to give you an overview of the scheme. For this, the final year of the survey, we would like results to be submitted to the via email to batlas@batconservationireland.org only.

In order to be covered by Bat Conservation Ireland insurance while conducting the BATLAS or other surveys you must sign up as either a paid member (€10-15 per annum, and also entitles you to newsletters and discounts on various events) or a temporary volunteer member (free but each surveyor must sign up individually for the survey year).

Links

• Training materials

Results

The final report and map will be posted to this page at the end of the current survey season (Oct/Nov 2019).