Bat Information

Basic Introduction to Bats

Bats on the Isle of Wight

16 of the UK’s native species have been observed in various locations on the Island including the Alcathoe Bat. The Parti-Coloured and Nathusius’ Pipistrelle Bats are also regular visitors, and the Island is a major stronghold for the Barbastelle and Bechsteins Bats. Apart from some Forestry Commission plantations, the Island’s woodland has remained largely undisturbed since Napoleonic times. This has left significant areas of connected woodland with relatively mature trees providing ideal woodland bat roosting habitat. Whilst tourism is the main industry on the Island, agriculture has been established for centuries, and the majority of the land is used for agriculture, both arable and dairy farming.

About Bats

Visit the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) website for a lot of information about bats.

BCT ‘Amazing Bats’ leaflet.

Bedfordshire Bat Group Articles

How to identify bats

How to recognize different kinds of bats from quite a long way away

BCT ‘What Bat is That’ leaflet

Bat Call Identification

Visit ‘The Parkhurst Forest Bat Project’ website for information on bat call identification.

Recommended book

Jon Russ, ‘British Bat Calls – A Guide to Species identification’, Pelagic Publishing, 2013.

School Curriculum Resources

BCT website: Explore the world of bat conservation through the national curriculum

JumpStart Bat Echolocation Song

Common pipistrelle on rock (© Rosie Corner / Bat Conservation Trust)
Noctule hanging from glove (© John Altringham / Bat Conservation Trust)
Noctule (© Hugh Clark / Bat Conservation Trust)
Serotine on rock (© Hugh Clark / Bat Conservation Trust)
Serotine in flight (© Hugh Clark / Bat Conservation Trust)
Brown long-eared in tree knot (© Hugh Clark / Bat Conservation Trust)