Events

Sunday 13th October – Hell Wath Nature Reserve, Ripon

We will be doing a bat box check in Hell Wath Nature Reserve in Ripon. We’ll be supporting members of the Friends of Hell Wath but we will also be checking boxes that form part of mitigation on adjoining housing estate. Bring an endoscope if you have one. Meet at Whitcliffe Lane, Ripon; grid ref. SE 30535 70274; latitude 54°07’38.7″N (54.127417), longitude 1°32’03.0″W (-1.53425).

Saturday 7th September & Saturday 14th September 2024 – Studley Royal Deer Park, near Ripon

We are having a new event based at Studley Deer Park on the 14th September. This is an all day event that is looking at surveying ancient and veteran trees in the park for Potential Roost Features and conducting emergence surveys on ones agreed on the day by members. Those of you that have visited the park will be aware that this is an enormous piece of work. We are inviting other bat groups to come along and help out and hopefully we can use some ground based endoscope work and use different recording media for emergence surveys just to get an idea of habitat usage. I’m sure we’ll pick up other species such as barn owls as well. This is a good opportunity to get some experience of bat usage of our most important and interesting trees. Please share this activity with friends or colleagues that would be interested in helping out and encourage them to come along.

Meet at 10am near the Choristers’ House; grid ref. SE 27563 69255; latitude 54 7′ 6.7″ N (54.11843) longitude 1 34′ 47.5″ W (-1.57982). Bring a torch, lunch and an endoscope if you have one. Contact the Events Organiser.

We will be looking for good evidence of a potential roost feature (PRF) being used, e.g. droppings, staining etc. then we’ll schedule a number of emergence surveys on those PRFs. The approach across the weekends is to record the ancient trees for PRFs accessible from the ground, with or without endoscopes. We’ll endoscope those features over the weekends and then develop a series of transects that we can conduct going forward to record presence and the use of those features. This will hopefully give us good opportunity to gather data without the need for climbing etc for the future. Good opportunity to get some endoscoping experience and practice too.

Friday 6th September 2024 Church Fenton Bat Walk

Meet at 19:45 at St. Mary’s Church, Church Fenton.

Friday 30th August 2024 Emergence Survey – Little Ouseburn Church

Meet at 19:15

Tuesday 20th August – Church of The Ascension, Whixley, near Green Hammerton YO26 8AR

This survey date is subject to weather so please keep in contact so we can keep you updated. If you want to attend then please be at the site for approximately 19:30. This maybe a little earlier if we have a large response.

Please email the Events Organiser to advise if you’ll be attending.

Saturday 15th June – Hell Wath Nature Reserve, near Ripon

We’ll be checking the bat boxes again as part of the Skell Valley Project’s Hell Wath BioBlitz event.

Meet at 1pm at the recording base camp at the Clubhouse, HG4 2SE.

Please confirm attendance by contacting the Membership Secretary.

Friday 14th June 2024 – Bat Survey of Tadcaster Viaduct

A survey of bats at Tadcaster Bridge will be carried out at 9:30pm on Friday 14th June.

The event is for members of the North Yorkshire Bat Group / the Yorkshire Mammal Group. Attendance must be confirmed by contacting the Membership Secretary please.

Saturday 25th May – Hell Wath Nature Reserve, near Ripon

The evening will start at 5:00pm with a walking tour of the site including bat box checks. We’ll then return to the clubhouse for a drink and something to eat (bring your own food).
There will be the chance to learn more about the surveys and equipment used to support bat conservation at Hell Wath nature reserve, Ripon, and the results so far.
The Friends of Hell Wath and DofE participants will give a presentation on their work at the site. We will also look at some of the equipment used for bat monitoring.
Assuming the bat box checks suggest bats are present, we’ll then carry out emergence surveys once its dark, to confirm the bat species present and numbers. Please bring a head-torch and detector if you are intending staying for the survey.
Meet at the Ripon Panthers clubhouse on Hell Wath Lane.

For more details contact the Events Secretary please.

Monday 20th May 2024 – Huntington Church Emergence Survey

A survey of bats emerging from Huntington Church will be carried out from 8:30pm.

The event is for members of the North Yorkshire Bat Group / the Yorkshire Mammal Group. Attendance must be confirmed by contacting the Membership Secretary please.

Saturday 11th May 2024 – Bat Survey of Tadcaster Viaduct

A survey of bats at Tadcaster Bridge will be carried out at 8:30pm on Saturday 11th May.

The event is for members of the North Yorkshire Bat Group / the Yorkshire Mammal Group. Attendance must be confirmed by contacting the Membership Secretary please.

Saturday 27th April 2024 – York City Nature Challenge

North Yorkshire Bat Group will be hosting a bat walk as part of the York City Nature Challenge. We will meet at 8:20pm on the evening of Saturday 27th April. We will walk along the riverbank, listening for bats foraging over the water. We anticipate finishing around 10:00pm.
As places are limited due to the number of bat detectors, book onto the walk by emailing Membership Secretary please.

Sunday 3rd March 2024 – Hibernation Survey

A hibernation survey of bats at Fountains Abbey near Ripon will be carried out on 3rd March.

The magnificent West Range of the Cloisters at Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire, containing the cellarium and lay brothers’ refectory.

The event is for members of the North Yorkshire Bat Group / the Yorkshire Mammal Group. Attendance must be confirmed by contacting the Events Officer. Please say if you are a licensed ecologist.

The survey is expected to take around three hours.

Monday 20th November 2023, 7pm (online) – Veteran Trees

There is an overlap between features that make a tree recordable on the Ancient Tree Inventory and features that bats may use. Ros Evans from the Woodland Trust will explain more about the Ancient Tree Inventory.

The talk will outline the importance of ancient and veteran trees in the landscape and explain how to recognise the difference between the two. As bat surveyors, you are in a good position to gain access to such trees and add their details to the Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Inventory. The presentation will equip you with the field skills you need to record these ‘living legends’ and add to the Trust’s existing database. 

The event is free to attend but please register in advance with the Membership Secretary so that we can gauge numbers. A link to the Zoom session will be sent to registered attendees prior to the event.

Tuesday 22nd August, 7.30pm to 9.30pmRiver Foss Bat Walk

A bat survey along the River Foss with the River Foss Community Group to record the bat species using the river corridor. Bat group members are welcome to come along.

Meet at the picnic tables through the metal pedestrian gate off Heworth Green. The gate is at SE60915253 to the east of the A1036 bridge over the River Foss.

Please let us know if you are coming along by emailing Events Organiser to give us an idea of numbers and so we don’t leave anyone behind.

12 August 2023

Join members of the North Yorkshire Bat Group for an evening stroll around the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust site at Askham Bog, south-west of York. Meet in the car park at 8:45pm. It’s a fairly flat walk around the boardwalk. Bring a torch and a bat detector, if you have one. Please contact Membership Secretary if you intend to come, so we can manage numbers, and provide a ‘phone number, in case we need to cancel at short notice if the weather is unsuitable.

22 July 2023 – Visit to the Hoffman lime kiln near Settle in the Yorkshire Dales, for a fascinating tour of this amazing structure with multiple roosts. Hoffman Lime Kiln For more details contact Membership Secretary .

23 June 2023 – Bat Roost Count, Winteringham

Part of a series of roost surveys at Winteringham Church. For more details contact Events Organiser .

16 June 2023 – Bat Roost Count, Low Catton

Part of a series of roost surveys at Low Catton Church. For more details contact Events Organiser .

9 June 2023 – Bat Roost Count, Winteringham

Part of a series of roost surveys at Winteringham Church. For more details contact Events Organiser .

7 June 2023 – Bat Roost Count, Grinton, Swaledale

Part of a series of monthly roost counts at St. Andrew’s Church. For more details contact Events Organiser .

26 May 2023 – Bat Survey, Knapton

Walked survey at a new planting scheme. For more details contact Events Organiser .

20 May 2023 – Survey, Clifton Bridge, York

We will be undertaking an informal survey of Clifton Bridge, York, which has previously been used as a maternity roost for noctule, Daubenton’s bat and a pipistrelle species. The event is open to all levels of experience and there will be a range of equipment that we will be happy to show you how to use. This will likely lead to more detailed surveys to pinpoint roost locations and repeat visits to monitor numbers. For more information, including meeting time and location, contact Membership Secretary .

19 May 2023 – Studley Royal Deer Park, near Ripon

20:00 Members are invited to get together for a chat, to look at new equipment and to have a walk down the 7 Bridges Valley with detectors. Good footwear, layers and a torch are recommended. For more details contact Chairman .