This article is from page 15 of the 2013-07-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
CLARE people are being invited to take part in a hunt for the mysterious Daubenton water bat.
The bat, which is an endangered species in some countries, is understood to be relatively populous in Clare – but Bat Conservation Ireland are hoping to get an accurate reading of the local population this August.
The Daubenton bat exits in numerous countries across Europe and Asia – with Ireland, and indeed Clare – being the western most point of its natural habitat.
Indeed, the fact that Clare lies on the very edge of the Daubenton habitat makes an accurate count of its number here all the more important.
The Daubenton’s bat is known as the water bat because of its preference to roost and feed close to water such as rivers and lakes.
It is easy to identify because of all of all Ireland’s nine resident species of bat, it is the only species that will be seen continuously skimming the water surface as it is feeding on in- sects.
Anyone interested in helping to survey waterways in Clare for the bats this August is invited to take part in a special training event taking place in Ennis this week.
“This survey is part of a monitoring scheme recording the activity of the Daubenton’s bat.
“These yearly surveys allow us to determine whether the population of this bat species is increasing or decreasing,” said a spokesperson from Bat Conservation Ireland.
“Surveyors will be in teams of two people. Bat Conservation Ireland will provide the use of a bat detector for the survey.”
Anyone interested in take part in the survey is asked to come to the Civic Room at Ennis Town Council this Friday, July 5, from 8pm for a training evening.
The training will involve an indoor lecture followed by a practical session using bat detectors on a local river.
For more information about the Daubenton bat visit www.batconservationireland.org.