Two bat transect walks for College students and staff took place in June. Jillian Mowbray, Colleges Sustainability Officer, has provided a report about the walks.

On 4 June and 26 June, we were joined by ecologists from Future Nature, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust’s ecological consultancy, for bat transect walks around the grounds at Univ’s main site and the College sportsground.

These walks were designed to help participants gain an understanding of bats and their habitats, measure the bat activity we have at Univ and assess how suitable our grounds are for bats. We learnt some interesting facts including that the UK has 18 species of bats, 17 that breed here and one, the greater mouse-eared bat, that has only two individuals left in the UK. We also learnt that young bats are called pups, and that bat species in the UK can live for between 10 and 30 years.

During the walk through the College site, Bat detectors were on hand to record bats echolocating around the buildings so that we could hear their high-pitched calls even if they couldn’t be seen. Bats from two species, common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and noctule (Nyctalus noctule) were acoustically detected. Excitingly, at the end of the walk, the group was treated to a finale of two pipistrelles soaring overhead.

At the sportsground, several common pipistrelles were observed actively foraging along the treeline bordering the track leading to the boathouse. These observations demonstrate how treelines provide excellent feeding opportunities for our bat species.

It was great to learn more about these fantasticating creatures, see them active at Univ and understand how we can improve habitats to encourage them. Many thanks to Jess and Katie from Future Nature for their expertise and guidance as well as Robbie Eason, Head of Grounds Maintenance at Univ, for organising the walks.

Published: 21 July 2025

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