Batting 4 Bayside (B4B) visited Elsternwick Park on Sat. 28 February. Local children joined Envirokids while adults and students arrived later to join Friends of Native Wildlife (FoNW). They all discovered how endoscopes are used to observe bats roosting in special bat box hanging 3 metres up a gum tree. Dark clouds and lightning threatened from afar as the last of the envirokids moved off. Anne, Paul, Angela, Tom and Elizabeth enlightened local residents on the life and needs of Bayside's 10 species of microbats.
The Bayside Friends of Native Wildlife are delighted to have been awarded a grant by the Norman Wettenhall Foundation to support the next 12 months of our Batting for Bayside project. This will help the local community to conserve microbats through citizen science - studying which bats live here and where - plus practical work like building and monitoring bat boxes.
On Tuesday February 11 twelve people gathered at Long Hollow Heathland in Beaumaris to try out the Anabat bat detectors. It was a great night for microbats - we found several Gould's Wattled Bats and some other species as well.
It seems every time we look, there are bats to be found.
We use donations to assist with purchasing materials for animal shelters (especially bat boxes), educational items, and survey equipment, as well as to cover costs of some events.