Bat services
We can carry out various types of bat surveys depending on the situation or your requirements.
We specialise in bat surveys of trees but also carry out surveys of buildings and structures.
When carrying out surveys of trees, we usually carry out a preliminary site survey to assess which trees have bat roosting suitability so that we can plan ahead to avoid any costly delays to you later down the line. On the day of works, those trees that were already identified not to have any bat roosting suitability can start to be cut by the tree clearance team without delay whilst we commence climbing the trees roosting potential to internally inspect the features with an endoscope to determine if they are suitable for use by bats and if there is any evidence of bats present or having been used by bats. We can either climb trees by rope and harness if safe to do so or trees can be accessed by MEWP if not safe to climb such as dead and decayed trees. We then provide tool box talks to your arb teams and agree work methods to avoid damaging or destroying any roosts and to avoid disturbing any bats.
We can act as Accredited Agents (AA’s) if bat roosts are present, and the work is being carried out under your Natural England derogation licence. We have lots of experience of blocking and excluding roosts prior to tree clearance works and work closely with the arb teams to ensure that the work is safely completed in line with the licence conditions and no bats are harmed by the work. If required we can assume the role of Lead AA if multiple bat ecologists are required to carry out the work on site for the purpose of planning efficient and effective working around time constraints and sensitivities as well as progress reporting. We can also back up this type of work with nocturnal surveys with night vision cameras to be sure no bats are present before trees are felled when bats are identified to be occupying a roost.
We can also carry out inspections of buildings and structure such as private residence in relation to development and re-roofing work to dwellings as well as work to other buildings such as electrical substations and pump houses that often support bats due to their condition and remote locations. We have also carried out surveys of tunnels and bridges on railways and waterways ahead of planned maintenance and conservation work. The surveys include firstly identifying and inspecting potential bat roost features on the buildings and structures for roosting suitability and for any evidence of bat use with the aid of endoscope and then carrying out nocturnal surveys using bat detectors and infra-red night vision cameras to see if and how bats are using the features. We can then arrange mitigation licences with Natural England if required to enable the works to proceed without causing an offense.