Bat Conservation Trust
Sunset - Sunrise Survey
Do your bit for bats this summer
You may have sat in your garden on a warm summer evening and watched bats flitting around,
but have you ever noticed that there are far fewer bats than there used to be?
The Bat Conservation Trust has been counting the UK’s bats since 1997, with the help of thousands of volunteers. We need to understand
what is happening to our bat populations so that we can work effectively to conserve them - this ongoing monitoring should provide an earlywarning system. Bat monitoring takes place in a wide variety of locations all over the UK, with volunteers counting bats as they emerge from
their roosts, fly along waterways, or even while they’re hibernating in caves and tunnels!
The Sunset-Sunrise
set-Sunrise Survey is a two-part survey that helps us to find more bat roosts to monitor. You can take part in either survey or both,
but the more help you can give us, the more chance you have of finding bats...
The Sunset Survey couldn’t be easier! Simply spend the evening in your garden or local open space and watch out for any bats that fly past.
Record how many bats you see, which species they are (if you think you know) and, most importantly, which direction they are flying from.
The Sunrise Survey involves going out just before dawn to look for bats swarming before they return to their roost (bat swarming is when
several bats circle around a structure or tree). You can either stand outside a structure if you think that bats might roost there, or walk a short
route that takes you past structures that bats might use. If you have already done the Sunset Survey and saw bats flying past, you should walk
in the direction from which most of them seemed to be coming.
Try to carry out one or both of the surveys anytime in June, July, or August. This period is when bats form the largest colonies and is also the
best time to see them swarming as they return to the roost. The best thing about this survey is that you don’t need any equipment or experience, and you may not even need to leave your back garden.
Preparing for the surveys
Equipment needed:
 Survey form or notebook
 Pencil/pen
 Torch
 Alarm clock!
If you are planning to do both surveys, try to do them within a week of each other - bats can move roost frequently in the summertime,
although they are creatures of habit and return to the same roosts year after year.
Sunset times (start your survey at these times)
Date
Aberystwyth
Belfast
Birmingham
Bristol
Glasgow
Inverness
London
Manchester
Newcastle
1st June
21.28
21.48
21.20
21.17
21.50
22.02
21.08
21.27
21.34
15th June
21.40
22.01
21.32
21.29
22.04
22.17
21.19
21.39
21.47
29th June
21.42
22.03
21.34
21.31
22.06
22.18
21.21
21.41
21.49
13th July
21.34
21.54
21.26
21.23
21.55
22.06
21.13
21.32
21.39
27th July
21.16
21.34
21.08
21.06
21.34
21.43
20.57
21.14
21.19
10th Aug
20.52
21.07
20.44
20.43
21.05
21.12
20.33
20.48
20.51
24th Aug
20.23
20.36
20.14
20.15
20.32
20.37
20.05
20.18
20.19
Sunrise times (start your survey an hour before)
Date
Aberystwyth
Belfast
Birmingham
Bristol
Glasgow
Inverness
London
Manchester
Newcastle
1st June
05.01
04.55
04.51
05.00
04.41
04.29
04.49
04.47
04.36
15th June
04.54
04.47
04.44
04.53
04.31
04.18
04.43
04.40
04.27
29th June
04.57
04.50
04.48
04.56
04.35
04.22
04.46
04.43
04.31
13th July
05.09
05.04
05.00
05.08
04.50
04.38
04.58
04.56
04.45
27th July
05.28
05.25
05.19
05.26
05.12
05.02
05.16
05.16
05.06
10th Aug
05.50
05.50
05.41
05.48
05.38
05.31
05.37
05.39
05.31
24th Aug
06.13
06.15
06.04
06.10
06.05
06.00
06.00
06.03
05.57
These times are all adjusted for British Summer Time (BST)
Walking a route
You can start at your own doorstep or you may prefer to travel to a nearby location if you think it will increase your chances of finding a
roost. Plan a route (up to 1km long) that is safe to walk and takes you past houses, buildings, bridges, barns or old trees that bats might use.
Make sure that the route sticks to public rights of way and does not pass through private property or dangerous areas, and walk the route
at least once during daylight hours to familiarise yourself with it. Please ensure you read our full H&S guidelines at www.bats.org.uk/pages/
sunset_sunrise_survey.html or included with this form if you received it by post.
Surveying a structure
Identify the structure that you would like to investigate. This could be any of the following:
 Your house (or a neighbour’s)
 Another building, such as a barn, outhouse or garage, on your property
 A public building, such as a church, town hall, community centre or school
 A structure on public land, such as a bridge, stone wall or tunnel
 A tree on land with public access
Make sure that you have permission to be there if you need it; don’t survey a private house or business premises unless it is your own. If it is
a public building or a tree in a public place, let the person who manages the site know what you are planning to do - they may even want to
take part in the survey too!
Which bat is it?
There are eighteen species of bat in the UK, but you are most likely to see one of six different species. Here we provide a basic guide to
identifying these bats, although it’s entirely possible that you may see something a little more unusual!
Species
(pictures not to scale)
Wingspan
Wing shape
Typical flight pattern
Summer roosts
Narrow wings
Flies about twice the height of average person, makes lots of downward
swoops. Irregular flight & makes lots
of turns.
Buildings, esp modern houses
& larger buildings. Also in tree
holes, behind ivy & in bat boxes.
24cm
- 27cm
Broad wings
Often just above water or flying
along hedgerows in wide arcs or circles. Steady height & flight pattern.
Bridges, tunnels & culverts close
to water, also old trees overhanging waterways. Occasionally in
old stone structures.
23cm
- 28cm
Wide wings with
broad ends, can usually see the distinctive ears
From ground level to treetops. Fairly
slow, fluttering flight & often hovers.
Oftein in older buildings with
large roof spaces, esp churches
& barns. Also tree holes & bat
boxes.
26cm
- 32cm
Narrow & pointed,
similar to noctule
At treetop level, fairly straight with
shallow dives & gradual rises.
Tree holes & bat boxes but also
old or modern houses & industrial buildings.
32cm
- 38cm
Broad, rounded tips,
wings look very dark
Lower than treetops, along edge of
trees & hedges, can hover & pick
insects from leaves.
Buildings, esp houses built
around 1900 with high gables,
also churches.
32cm
- 40cm
Very high above treetops, fast
Long & quite narrow
straight flight with deep wing strokes
with rounded tips
& steep dives.
Pipistrelle
19cm
- 25cm
Daubenton’s
Brown long-eared
Leisler’s
Serotine
Noctule
Mainly in tree holes but sometimes in buildings. Also roost in
tall chimneys & bridges.
If you see bats returning to their roosts they may be using the flight patterns described above, but when bats are swarming they will not usually be flying in this way.
Completing the form
Please fill in your details in the first section - if several of you took part then nominate one person to complete it on behalf of the group. Also
do please tell us how many volunteers took part and record their ages, if you know them.
You can use any of these landmarks to help you describe where you looked for bats, the start and end locations of your route or where you
saw bats swarming:
 Street name and town/village
 Church
 Ancient feature (castle, fort)
 Public land (park, common)
 Public building (school, swimming pool, village hall)
If you need any advice on taking part in the surveys, give us a call on 020 7820 7166 or email [email protected]
Bat Conservation Trust
Sunset - Sunrise Survey
Do your bit for bats this summer
About you
Name
Address
Postcode
Email
How many people took part in the survey?
How many people in each age group?
Under 12
12-16
17-25
Are you a member of the Bat Conservation Trust?
 Yes
 No
Have you taken part in the Bat Monitoring Programme before?
 Yes
 No
26-40
41-60
Sunset Survey
Location (if not at the above address)
Date of survey
Did you see bats?
Start time
 Yes
 No
End time
If yes, how many bats do you think you saw?
Do you know which species they were?
Which direction did the bats seem to fly from?
Did you see the bats emerge from a building or tree?
 Yes (please give details below)  No
Sunrise Survey
Date of survey
Start time
End time
Standing outside a structure
What kind of structure did you choose?
Did you see bats?
 Yes
 No
 House
 Church
 Public building
 Tree
 Bridge
 Other
If yes, how many bats do you think you saw?
Do you know which species they were?
Did you see any bats swarming?
 Yes (please complete the swarming section overleaf)
 No
60+
Sunrise Survey (continued)
Walking a survey route
Please enter details of where your route began and ended.
You do not need to include exact addresses, your location can be described by landmarks (see notes)
Start location
Start time
End location
End time
Did you see bats?
 Yes
 No
If yes, how many bats do you think you saw?
Do you know which species they were?
Did you see any bats swarming?
 Yes (please complete the swarming section below)
 No
Swarming
If you saw any bats swarming please fill in this section. Complete a separate record for each time you saw this
happen, and if you need more space attach a separate sheet listing the information required below. If possible for
the location, please give the street name, position in relation to landmark(s) or grid reference if you know it.
Record 1
Location
Time
Number of bats (have a guess!)
Species (if known)
Describe the structure that the bats were swarming around
Did you find the actual roost?
 Yes (describe the position of the entrance below)
 No
Record 2
Location
Time
Number of bats (have a guess!)
Species (if known)
Describe the structure that the bats were swarming around
Did you find the actual roost?
 Yes (describe the position of the entrance below)
 No
Please return your completed form(s) to:
Freepost RSRJ-AXKH-GGRH, NBMP, Bat Conservation Trust, 250 Kennington Lane, London SE11 5RD
Alternatively you can submit your data online at: www.bats.org.uk/pages/enter_your_data_online.html.
By returning this data sheet to us you consent to your data being accessible by the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT), Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), local bat groups
and others subject to the approval of JNCC and BCT. Your intellectual copyright of the data will be recognised at all times. We will be entering your personal information onto a
confidential database. Please let us know if you object to this.
Thank you for your valuable contribution to the monitoring programme!