A local bat enthusiast is hosting bat walks on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd July and is inviting members of the community to join him.
Robert Dickenson, a volunteer at the Conigre Mead Nature Reserve in Melksham, will be in the Market Place at 9.30pm on both days and will be taking residents on a short 20-minute walk around the area to monitor bats. He will be using a bat detector that picks up the sound of bats which is inaudible to the human ear.
Robert said, “Bats are fascinating creatures. It’s best to leave for the walk in the dusk as you can catch the silhouette of the bats against the night sky. The monitor I use is not harmful to bats in any way, it just picks up the sound they make that humans can’t hear.”
Explaining why he chooses to do the walk around Melksham’s town centre, Robert said, “The centre of Melksham has a surprisingly large number of bat roosts due to the siting of older buildings.
“There’s a lot of bats around the Campus, Place Road, St. Michael’s cemetery and down to the bridge by the river. The walk will be from the Market Place through the Campus, along the river and ending at the town bridge.
“I shall be using the bat detector to identify three species of bats: Pipistrelles, Serotine and Daubenton’s. There’s evidence of Serotine bats in the area and they are long established rare bats.”
Previously, these walks have been organised by Ian and Gill Cardy however, Richard is now taking this over. He said, “Around four to five residents attended the last walk and were fascinated by the experience. If it goes well, I may do more in August and September.”
