‘Bat night’ set for Newry
Are you interested in bats? Would you like to find out more about these creatures of the night?
Why not come along to your local ‘Bat Night’ and find out about these misunderstood flying mammals, including revealing the truth about some of the ‘Old Wives Tales’ associated with them!
Danielle Begley, Biodiversity Officer for Down and Newry and Mourne District Councils explained,
“This is the third in the series of events as part of the Biodiversity Games, which is a recording project supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, ‘Your Heritage’ Programme in partnership with seven other Biodiversity Officers which aims to get people involved in helping their local biodiversity by ‘getting them recording’.”
Danielle continued, “Bats are shy and unobtrusive animals, seen only in the dim light at dusk. Their wings make them look bigger than they really are, and as they swoop down after insects, people may sometimes feel uneasy. Just not knowing much about them leads to misconceptions.”
Dispelling a couple of the most common myths about bats, Danielle says, “Bats are not blind – they actually have good eyesight; and, bats will not drink your blood, – well at least the ones we get in Northern Ireland don’t! To find out more about our bats, please come along on the evening. On Thursday 9th August we will be at Castlewellan Forest Park at 8pm and on Friday 10th August we will be at the Fairy Glen entrance to Kilbroney Park at 8pm.”
There will be a few bat detectors available which convert the high pitched calls of the bats used for echo location, to a lower frequency audible to humans. Each species calls at a particular range of frequencies, making various noises described as ‘smacks’, ‘slaps’, ‘clicks’ and ‘ticks’. By reading the frequency on the detector, and listening to their calls, the species of bat can be identified.
If you are interested in finding out more about bats, come along and please wear suitable clothing and bring a torch. For further information contact Danielle Begley, Biodiversity Officer tel; (028) 3031 3100 or email; danielle.begley@newryandmourne.gov.uk
Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=20403
Posted by Emma Taylor
on Jul 31 2012. Filed under What's On.
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