Aquatic bats

Yesterday my daughter and I joined a group of other enthusiastic people in the village of Aiguafreda for a talk about bats and, more specifically, the aquatic bat species that are found in Catalonia and which are being studied by the Projecte QuiroRius. Specifically this includes Daubenton's bat (Myotis daubentonii) which is called the Ratpenat d'Aigua (Water Bat) in Catalan and the Long-fingered bat (Myotis capaccinii) which, in Catalan, is called the Ratpenat de Peus Grans (the Bat with Big Feet).

After the talk we all went to the Font dels Enamorats where we ate our picnic supper as the sun set and the bats started to appear. Then, with head torches on, we headed off into the woods following the path until a small turning which lead us down to a pool where we saw an aquatic bat racing around above the surface. With our arrival it quickly disappeared but we had been able to hear it on the bat detector.

Some other bats also registered on the bat detectors as we waited there (probably pipistrelles). After waiting a while and realising that no more bats were going to come back (maybe we were making too much noise or showing too many lights), the majority of the party headed off for an excursion in the dark. We decided it was time to head home and on the way back to the car saw a Common Midwife Toad (Alytes obstetricans). In Catalan this species is called the Tòtil. We also heard something large moving around in the bushes but we couldn't see what it was. It was great to be out in nature at night time!