Going
Bats at
Singleton
Lake
This incredibly popular annual event was once again attended by a very
enthusiastic bunch of bat detectives young and old.
Hazel Ryan, John Puckett and an further expert from the Kent Bat
Group gave a batastic mini lecture on bats of all varieties.
Then armed with bat detectors, which capture the sound and thus the
identity of the bats that flit past almost unseen, the sleuths walked
carefully off into the night to see and hear what could be found.
The area around
Singleton
Lake
is a food area for bats in Ashford as the combination of open water,
woodland and meadow means there is a great supply of flying insects for
the bats. Debbie Adams from
the Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership said, “Windy conditions on the
night reduced the number of bats flying over the open water, but there
were plenty of soprano pipistrelle’s feeding excitedly right above our
heads on the lakeside. It’s
brilliant to give people the opportunity to see how active the outdoor
world is at night when we are usually cosily tucked up inside.
It is also important for people to appreciate how hard our wildlife
has to work in order to feed and survive in the modern developing world
and understand that the retention of ‘green corridors’ is essential to
their survival.”
KSCP works with Ashford Borough Council and other partners to protect,
enhance and improve wildlife habitat areas in the green spaces running
through Ashford beside the Great Stour and
East Stour
rivers. These areas link up and are collectively known as the Ashford
Green Corridor. This free
event was the last in a series of activities that are took place in the
Ashford Green Corridor during the summer holidays. Each event was run by a
local artist or expert, and was designed so that everyone had fun learning
about the wildlife on their doorstep.
For more information or to find out what other
projects we work on, contact KSCP on 01233 813307 or email kentishstour@kent.gov.uk.
You can also visit the Ashford Green Corridor Website on www.ashfordgreencorridor.org.uk
to
find out more about the events and the Green Corridor.
