Please get in touch if B.A.T. Ecological can help you and your project with any bat surveys, reporting, licensing, or mitigation / compensation design, implementation, and / or monitoring - info@bat-ecological.co.uk | +44 (0) 7870 157022.

B.A.T. Ecological are experts in providing the following bat survey and consultancy services (including on a sub-contracted basis) - please click on each one to learn more:

• Preliminary (daytime) appraisal for bat roost suitability - any time of year;

• Bat roost inspection survey / scoping survey - any time of year;

• Nocturnal (dusk emergence and / or pre-dawn re-entry) bat surveys - April to September;

• Bat activity transects and remote (zero crossing or full spectrum) bat detector deployment - usually April to September, as well as expert analysis of large amounts of bat detector data;

• Tree assessments and inspections for bats (including at height), as well as appraisals of woodlands - any time of year;

• Back-tracking surveys - April to October;

• Hibernation surveys - December to February;

• Swarming surveys - April, or late July to late October;

• Remote observation - infra-red or thermal imaging - surveys - April to October; and,

• Advanced bat surveys (harp trapping, mist netting, radio-tagging / tracking) - April to October.

B.A.T. Ecological undertakes bat surveys in accordance with best practice and the conditions attached to survey licenses. Our ecologists are guided by the following documents and books in particular and where applicable:

• Collins (2023) Bat Surveys for Professional Ecologists: Good Practice Guidelines (4th edition), Bat Conservation Trust

• BCT (2022) Updated guidance for use of night vision aids (NVAs) for bat surveys

• Reason & Wray (2023) UK Bat Mitigation Guidelines: a guide to impact assessment, mitigation and compensation for developments affecting bats, CIEEM (as well as Mitchell-Jones (2004) Bat Mitigation Guidelines, English Nature (now Natural England) where still applicable)

• Mitchell-Jones & McCleish (2004) Bat Workers Manual, 3rd Edition, Joint Nature Conservation Committee

• Natural England Standing Advice (for Local Planning Authorities) regarding protected species and development

• Ninnes (2015) Natural Resources Wales - NRW Approach to Bats and Planning (GPG3)

• Bat Tree Habitat Key (2018) Bat Roosts in Trees - A Guide to Identification and Assessment For Tree-Care and Ecology Professionals

• CIEEM Guidance on ecological surveys and their purpose

• Natural England (2013) Guidance on the capture and marking of bats under the authority of a Natural England licence (WML-G39 (10/13)

• Kunz and Parsons (2009) Ecological and Behavioural Methods for the Study of Bats (2nd edition).

If you are a homeowner looking to commission bat surveys then you may wish to read the helpful guidance provided by CIEEM on bat surveys and engaging a professional ecologist.