Christmas and New Year Opening Hours

It is that time of year again so if you are looking for an ecology survey or bat survey in the next couple of weeks this is when you can get hold of us.

Friday 23^rd Dec – Closed

Saturday 24^th Dec – Closed

Christmas Day – Closed

Boxing Day – Closed

Bank Holiday Monday – Closed

We will re-open on the 3^rd January 2017

We hope all our clients, both current and future, have a great Christmas and New Year break and we hope to hear from you in the New Year with more exciting projects that we can help with.

Bats and Planning

Bats and Planning – What!

The most common of questions we are asked at Cherryfield Ecology is generally why do I need to have a bat survey for planning? Although this is simple to answer, in that, bats are found in human dwellings as their natural habitats have been eroded by development, habitat loss and farming, it creates more questions that understandably the average homeowner or developer will need to know. This article aims to provide you, the planning applicant, with a one-stop shop for the answers you are looking for.

The first enquiry is usually why a bat survey is needed -

          Are bats protected?

Yes, all bat species in the UK are fully protected by law. They are an EU protected species, meaning that the protection afforded to them is as high as it gets in the UK. It is an offence for any person or persons to: intentionally kill, injure or take a bat. Under the EU Law (Habitats Reg’s) it is an offence to deliberately capture or kill a bat, therefore any works affecting them or potentially affecting them must be considered in a planning application, permitted development or general building maintenance.

          What is a bat survey?

Put simply a bat survey is a means of checking whether the building, structure or tree you are planning to do works to houses or could house bats. For planning purposes there is a three staged process. Stage one is a day – time inspection of the structures to be affected, it can be conducted year round as the licenced bat worker is looking for evidence of bat use or the potential for bats to use the structure when evidence is lacking e.g. small gaps under tiles for instance. The second stage is night time surveys, time limited to between May and September, when bats are fully active it involves surveyors watching the building for bats entering or exiting, counting the number of bats present and establishing species that are present. The third stage is the licensing process. This can only be undertaken post grant of planning (or if no planning consent is removed e.g. permitted development) and the surveys have established the species, population and entry/exit points. A licence is required when a breach of the law cannot be avoided e.g. the building bats are using is being demolished.

          Why can full surveys only be conducted in the summer?

This is not because bat workers don’t want to do any work over the winter period! Bats become less active as the weather cools, mating in the autumn period and then hibernating over the coldest months. As many bats mate and hibernate in different places to where they spend their summers and are happily conserving energy by lowering their metabolic rate and not moving around, it would make winter night-time surveys pointless, bats simply aren’t going to be in the structure or if they are they are well hidden. Bat workers are therefore unable to do the night-time surveys. 

Been asked for a bat survey ? 

Cherryfield Ecology can provide you with bat surveys for planning, check out our website or call us for more information 

Bats and Thermal Camera's

Bat Surveying and Thermal Camera's 

Cherryfield Ecology has been using a thermal imaging camera over the last few months of the bat survey season. This is a supplementary technique to standard surveying techniques were personnel are positioned around a structure to watch for bats emerging and re-entering.

The thermal camera gives the user the ability to see 'in the dark' thus allowing bats to be seen in complete darkness.

The thermal camera Cherryfield has been using is a FLIR one. These retail at £189.00 to £200 (+VAT) from Amazon or Apple stores and is a reasonable priced bit of kit compared with FLIR's other offerings.

It plugs into the lighting connector on an ipad or iphone. It is self powered and therefore allows the two devices to be used without massive battery drain. On a full charge the FLIR one will last approx. 1.5hrs to 2hrs which is just enough to record a full bat survey session on a standard emergence survey.

There is also an IR element to the system which highlights buildings and other objects giving a nice outline to the image, if desired.

Although the FLIR one is clearly not one of the best thermal cameras on the market it is affordable.  it is easy to carry, store and use, making an excellent addition to the bat surveying armoury.

In use:

I have found that compared to an IR set-up using the thermal in an external environment is much better. This is more to do with the fact it doesn't require large bulky additional IR lighting. Although there are other advantages such as the field of view and ease of use. Internally I would opt for the IR set-up as this can be set-up at the beginning of the survey and then left running, requiring little input, whereas the thermal can be switched on and off as desired with the touch of a button.

I have also found it useful for quick sweeps of an external area of building e.g. checking an opening or looking for 'hot spots' under hung tile for instance.

Conclusion 

All in all the FLIR one is a useful tool when bat surveying. it is quick to use, stores well, has its own battery and is convenient. The current camera is a little poor compared to other FLIR's, however it does the job and for the cost is a must when bat surveying.

If you you need a bat survey feel free to contact Cherryfield Ecology for a free quote.

Another Barn, another Brown long eared bat

Cherryfield Ecology has been doing several barn surveys of late. Most of the time when doing these surveys it is difficult to find the bats because of the vast number of holes, gaps and crevices located in them.

Two surveys on barns recently have given us the opportunity to find brown long eared bats.

The bat in the picture above is typical of how we find brown long eared bats, hanging on the rafters or ridge line of the barn!

Brown long eared bats and Barns

Cherryfield Ecology has been undertaking surveys on a barn in Oxfordshire, last night we did the second of three surveys and decided to mist net the bats to see if they were male or female.

Brown long eared bats are known to have small maternity roosts and as we had at least two bats out of the barn on the previous survey we wanted to know if the bats were male or female.

We know they were coming from the main barn door so set - up the net across this so when they emerged they would have no were to go other than the net.

Some time later the brown long eared pictured below was caught. This little chap was male and pretty annoyed at being caught in the net.

After we had checked him over he was released to go and hunt for the evening.

Bat Roost

Dusk and dawn surveys are part and parcel of the bat survey process, when the day time survey warrants further survey.

The building below shows a roost entrance that is no bigger than 20mm in size, were three species of bat were found in the building. This entrance was used by soprano pipistrelle.

on the face of it this building would be unlikely to house a roost, being built of a solid wall, steel framed beams and asbestos roof, just goes to show that you never can tell were bats will want to roost.

Another bat survey bites the dust

Hung tile is a known roosting feature of bats in the UK, this building had it in spades -

Handmade clay hung tile added to buildings to protect them from the elements, offers so many crevices and roosting opportunities that it is almost certain bats will be found under them.

In this building small numbers of bat evidence (droppings) was also found, but even without that this one was going to need full roost characterisation surveys to establish species, population and entry/exit points.  

Bat survey process

Every wondered how bat surveys work? Not sure of the process or timing? Check out the info-graphic below to give you an idea on how it all works and the timing of the surveys and any licencing requirements.

Dusk and Dawn Surveys

Cherryfield Ecology has been very busy over the last couple of weeks. We have been down to Cornwall, Devon, Surrey and more locally such as Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

Most of Cherryfields work is bat related and currently these involve emergence and re-entry surveys or Dusk and Dawn surveys. These more detailed surveys are undertaken between May to September when bats are most active and in breeding sites. During winter bats hibernate meaning that surveys can’t be undertaken on summer roosts.

Thus far over the last few weeks we have found soprano pipsitrelle Pipistrellus pygmaeus maternity roosts, common pipistrelle P. pipistrellus day roosts and a serotine roost Eptesicus serotinus. 

If you have been asked to provide bat surveys or ecological surveys, feel free to give us a ring and ask for your free quote, we look forward to hearing from you.

Barn Owls

Barn owl survey.

So, today Cherryfield Ecology went to a little barn complex in Bedfordshire. A bat survey had already been done, but the client was worried that he had seen barn owl on site and wanted it checked out.

Although no nests were located barn owl had been using the site (see picture) and I found small numbers of pellets scattered across the barns floor.

Bat licence completed

Bat licence completed

Bat Surveys

Cherryfield Ecology undertakes a licenced roof strip.

Yesterday Cherryfield Ecology undertook a licenced roof strip of a house being demolished ready for its replacement to be built.

When bats are found to be present in a dwelling and it is due for removal, a European Protected Species Licence (EPSL) is applied for. this then allows the works to proceed legally under the wildlife laws. Often part of this process is to remove tiles by hand under supervision, in case a bat is found during the works. If a bat or bats are found they can then be safely removed to installed bat boxes on site as a new home and until the roost is replaced in the new dwelling.

If you need help with bats or other protected species get in touch with us via the contacts page.

Busy, Busy

So it has been a very busy few weeks now that we are into the survey season proper. Dusk and dawn bat surveys, day-time bat surveys and phase 1 ecological appraisals are on on the cards.

This is a selection of sites visited and surveyed recently.

There be Great Crested Newt here

Well I found my first great crested newts (GCN) of this survey season this week, Well not the newts themselves but the eggs that they lay their breeding ponds. GCN lay a single egg on vegetation and then fold over the leave to protect it from predators, pretty clever really. 

Two ponds are shown, one that is much better than the other, can you guess which?

I The one with all the vegetation in the pond is the better of the two, with the one by the road being a little worse. 

An Oxfordshire View

This was my view at about 10am this morning, about 100ft up a bell tower looking across the Oxfordshire countryside. 20mins after this was taken a sleet/snow shower moved in!

The church looked great in the spring sun though and as expected, bat evidence was found throughout the building.

Reptile Survey Set-up

Today has been busy!

Cherryfield Ecology set-up a massive reptile survey today. This involves placing out felt tiles which reptiles like to hide under, thus making them easier to find than walking around the site looking for them.

Seven weeks of checks in suitable weather to come and I will keep readers updated of the progress.

More Bat Surveys

Well another couple of sites surveyed for bats - nothing happening this time, but until they are checked you never know!

Weekend working!

Busy, busy weekend, undertaken four new bat surveys for four new sites. All bar one need further survey during the active bat season of May to Sept.

Echo Meter Touch

31/03/2016

My new toy just arrived in the post! The Wildlife Acoustics #EchoMeterTouch bat detector, which connects directly to an Apple device.

I have been using one of these for over a year now, but due to a change in job I have been without one for the winter, no big deal because the #bats have been inactive during this time.

However with April just about to begin and the temperatures beginning to warm, soon the bats will be coming out of hibernation/torpor and they will be active once more.

For planning purposes bat surveys in the UK cannot be undertaken until May but my local bat group (Bedfordshire Bat Group) starts surveys in April and I am looking forward to getting out in the next few weeks to test the new device and the improvements that Wildlife Acoustics have made to the app that is required to run it on an apple device.

Bring on the bats!

The Maltings

Stunning old Malting building surveyed for ‪#‎bats‬ yesterday. Lots of feeding remains found scattered on the first floor and interspersed droppings.

Hertfordshire Preliminary Bat Survey

23/03/2016
Hertfordshire Preliminary Bat Survey

Nice little borough council building today in the heart of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. No bats or evidence but that is the way it goes!

17/03/2016

St Patrick’s Day!

Shamrock is the national plant of Ireland, however did you know that there is no such plant as the ‘shamrock’?

It is widely believed that the shamrock is in fact white clover Trifolium repens found across the country and the UK (Academic American Encyclopedia, Vol. 17, 1990). It is part of the legume family and fixes nitrogen in the soil, supplies food for a variety of insect species such as the common blue butterflies Polyommatus Icarus and can grow in variety of habitats such as grassland, road verges and woodland (WT, 2016).

Regardless of the real plants name ‘shamrock’ was used by St Patrick as a symbol of the holy trinity and is now seen by the world that the Irish are in town!

Happy St Patrick’s day to all my Irish family and friends – drink, be merry and enjoy!

References:

WT, (2016), White Clover, online at www.wildlifetrust.org.uk, accessed on 17/03/2016

Bat survey time?

Preliminary Roost Assessment time!

15/03/2016

Preliminary Roost Assessment time!

So, I was lucky enough to visit the New Forest Park this last week, stunning area and although not a lot of time for sightseeing, the history of the area is grand. For those not in the know the New Forest is a remnant of a historical hunting forest. In the UK forest is the term used to describe an area of heathland, woodland, grassland and water-courses used by royalty for hunting wild boar, deer and other game (the New Forest, 2016), whereas other wooded areas are known as woodland (FC, 2016).

The unique thing about the area is that traditional commoner rights are still observed, hence why there are ponies grazing the area, but there are others such as the right of Marl, which allows lime to be dug and spread on arable fields (the New Forest, 2016).

This might explain why the area is so rich in wildlife -

I did get to search for #bats in the client’s two buildings. One an old pig sty and the other a dwelling house. The house so the one that bat evidence was found in.

References: 

FC (Forestry Commission), (2016), Sources and Definitions, online at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/foreststats.nsf/byunique/sources.html, accessed on 15/03/2016

The New Forest, (2016), The New Forest, online at http://www.newforest.hampshire.org.uk/, accessed 15/03/2016

It's beginning to look at like spring!

10/03/2016

It’s beginning to look at lot like spring!

It has been a fairly busy week at Cherryfield Ecology, thus far we have undertaken three preliminary roost assessments (#batsurveys), a European Protected Species Licence (EPSL) and provided some advice to a local home owner.

If you’re reading this blog then it is probably safe to assume that your local planning authority has asked you to provide a #batsurvey or #ecologysurvey for our planning application. Cherryfield ecology can help, check out the website and contact Cherryfield today for a quote. 

The Birds, the Birds!

02/03/2016

The Birds, the Birds!

So officially the 1^st March is the beginning of meteorological spring in the UK (MET Office, 2016), if you are sitting in an office or have been out and about, you would be forgiven for thinking it was still winter!

So why is March the beginning of spring?

There are a couple of things that denotes March as the official start of spring, firstly it is the way the months are split up, so for instance March, April and May are officially spring months. June, July and August are officially summer and so on, see the trend? A three month block per quarter makes up the season.

Secondly this makes it easier for weather forecasters to compare the weather over years and hundreds of years (MET Office, 2016).

          But what has this got to do with Ecology or me for that matter?

Well, simply put it kicks off the breeding bird season. This season officially runs from the 1^st March until the end of August (RSPB, 2016). During this period all UK breeding birds are protected from the point when the nest begins to be built until the young birds have fledged.

You may be thinking so what, but for developers and those wishing to cut back hedges, trees or other vegetation it causes an issue. In effect a single ‘in-use’ bird’s nest could stop a developer from demolishing a building or a cutting an access road into a site, allowing construction traffic to access it.

Whilst this may cause some inconvenience in the short term all is not lost. The first step for the developer is to employee an ecologist to check the building, hedge or vegetation for ‘in-use’ bird nests. If none are found the works can proceed.

But what if there is an in-use nest?

If an ‘in-use’ nest is found there are ways this can be dealt with. Consider moving the access gap to an area where there are no nests or timing works outside of the nesting season. Not always an option but worth considering early in the project process.

As a last resort the ecologist can install a buffer zone around the nest to prevent disturbance and damage, this is normally between 3m to 5m in radius. The nest is monitored whilst buffered and once the young have fledged the works can proceed.

If you are planning on doing works and have hedges, trees or buildings to remove before works can begin give Cherryfield Ecology a ring to check your site over before starting.

Look forward to hearing from you!

References

RSPB, 2016, The Law and Cutting Hedges, online at http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/gardening/planting/hedges/the_law.aspx, accessed 02/03/2016

MET Office, (2016), When Does Spring Start? Online at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/learn-about-the-weather/how-weather-works/when-does-spring-start, accessed 02/03/2016

Reptile and Amphibian Time!

26/02/2016

Time to start thinking about great crested newt and reptile surveys?

 March is a month I look forward to as an ecologist, not just because spring is just around the corner but because it signals the start of the ecological survey season.

Every year, following the bleak, damp, cold winter months and long hours of darkness, the days begin to slowly lengthen and spring flowers begin to show their intentions for the coming season. Spring equals life in a temperature climate and the flowers are the start, following them the tree buds will burst and for many of the UK’s wildlife these signals tell them it is time to wake from the winter slumber.

Soon frog, toads and great crested newts will be moving from their wintering grounds on land to the ponds they need to reproduce. Frogs, toad and newt will be found in the ponds, that for generations, these amphibians have relied upon. New generations of amphibians will be born, with frog and toad spawn and newt eggs being found within the next few weeks.

Of course this new life gives ecologists the opportunity to study amphibians, as the remainder of the year they are hunting, sheltering and moving around on land, where it is all-most impossible to find them.

Reptiles such as slow worm, common lizard and grass snake will also be waking from their slumber. Although not requiring a still water body for reproduction, they, like amphibians, require a reasonable temperature to start moving around. Typically this is seen as 9oC in the UK for reptiles. In periods of poor weather they will hunker down again until it improves.

As the days get longer and sun warms the earth, reptiles and amphibians will be moving around and this provides an opportunity for ecologists to get out of the house and start doing what they love so much, finding and recording wildlife.

For developers, architects and planning consultants in the UK, now is the time to get organized and start looking at getting surveys instructed to prevent delays in the future ‘Forearmed is Forewarned’ as the saying goes and this couldn’t be more true with ecological surveys.

If you are a planning consultant, developer, architect or home owner thinking about starting your project in the coming months and you have ponds, rough grassland, woodland or parkland close by, give Cherryfield Ecology a ring to discuss the ecological constraints that may be a future issue. 

Thanks for reading this blog post, I hope you enjoyed it. 

Hibernating bat found in a Church

Undertook an update survey for a European Protected Species Licence today on a church. Whilst finding lots of evidence of summer use, it is difficult to find bats in a building the size of a church.

Whilst look in the southern porch, I noticed a little brown object tucked up between timber and a wall. I got the endoscope out and found this little fella fast asleep.

Welcome to Cherryfield Ecology's first blog post!

To kick us off I invite you to check out the website site at www.cherryfieldecology.co.uk and get in touch if you need help with ecology and planning in the UK.