Recent Release of the New Bat Good Practice Guidelines

Following the release of the eagerly anticipated  4th edition of the Good Practice Guidelines from Bat Conservation Trust, the GES Team have conducted a quick review and pulled together the following top 10 summary of significant take-homes spotted so far: 

1. Preliminary Bat Roost Assessments (PBRA), which will now be referred to as Daytime Bat Walkover (DBW). 

2. What were previously referred to as Transects, will now be called Nightime Bat Walkover (NBW) surveys, and will only be conducted at a rate of 1 per season whatever a sites level of potential, with static detectors picking up the remaining effort. 

3. NBW surveys are to start and remain at a static location for a minimum of 30 minutes but up to 1hr after sunset, which differs from commencement of walking at sunset. (A very welcome change say the GES bat team).

4. Pre Dawn Re-Entry surveys are not only no longer a requirement, but are in fact best avoided due to variance in bat roost return times, and surveyor fatigue. (Another welcomed change by the GES Team as we have been suggesting these points for over a decade.)

5. The use of Infrared cameras/ Night Vison Aids (NVA’s) is expected on all nocturnal surveys of structures and trees, and can, in some circumstances, replace surveyors. 

6. Emergence surveys are required to be three, and not the previous two weeks apart.

7. Greater survey effort to determine hibernation roosts and autumn swarming sites is expected.

8. Buildings that present as key features in the landscape should be considered for pipistrelle swarming. 

9. The hibernation survey period has been extended to include November and March when deploying static (oppose to December to February as stated in V3).

10. The surveying of trees for bats has been given significantly more consideration, with the omission of evening / pre-dawn surveys encouraged, and greater survey effort through the use of climbed investigations and the use of camera traps highly recommended. 

With many changes taking place, the GES team will be hard at work fully reviewing the guidelines in detail and updating our reports to reflect.

A great upgrade from Version 3 though, so a huge thank you to Jan Collins and the wider team for delivering this in time for us to review and digest ahead of the 2024 season. 

These guidelines lay the foundation for bat surveys for professional ecologists and have been long awaited amongst the bat worker community.

For a downloadable copy BCT has made the full document available as a non-printable PDF, simply visit their website at https://www.bats.org.uk/news/2023/09/bat-surveys-for--ecologists-good-pr... and for hard copies these can be pre-ordered from NHBS for dispatch in October 2023.