The Bat Defectives
7 GoodGymers made their way to help the Wild Eton & Eton Wick in Windsor and Maidenhead.
- Saturday, 28th of May 2022
- Led by Windsor and Maidenhead runner
Georgeta, Kanika and Sheila cycled along the Jubilee River to join Clara, Peter, Julian and Jen at St John's church in Eton Wick, where we met with taskowner Claire from Wild Eton Wick. Claire had two tasks for us today. We started off by searching for any bat activity inside the church. We knew from previous surveys that bats fly around the churchyard. But could we find any evidence of bats roosting? We were looking for droppings, insect wings , urine stains or even bats themselves. We spread out throughout the church, armed with torches, and were given permission to have a good rummage in all the nooks and crannies we could find. We found plenty of dead insects and cobwebs, and Jen even found a mouse (of the toy variety), but we couldn't find any direct evidence of bats. Disappointingly we didn't have the key to go up the bell turret and steeple, as we felt this may have been our best chance of finding evidence of bats We then moved outside to enjoy the sunshine and see whether we could see any butterflies in the churchyard. Whilst on butterfly watch some of us had a bit of a contemplate about the stories that may lie behind the gravestones, a very peaceful place. A few butterflies were spotted - some of them whizzed by very quickly, but Georgeta managed to get a picture of a common blue. In all, 9 butterflies were recorded - other species seen were a meadow brown, a gatekeeper, and a holly blue. We were all agreed that the churchyard could be improved to make it more attractive to butterflies and perhaps that will be an eventual outcome from this survey! We made the most of the weather and all took the scenic route home again. Thanks to Claire for hosting us, and we look forward to helping out again soon.
Report written by Windsor and Maidenhead runner
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Sounds like a great afternoon, despite not finding any evidence of bats. Well done everyone!
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