November 15, 2023 • 23 mins
Send us a Text Message with what batty adventures you’ve been up to this summer!
S5E47 On the edge of the Cotswolds lies Lacock Abbey, home to Professor Quirrel's classroom and the Mirror of Erised. But whilst millions of people will recognise the Cloisters of the Abbey used in the filming of the Harry Potter franchise, a rather special spectacle can be found here once the sun goes down. A soprano pipistrelle bat roost hidden in the roof of Sharrington's tower is regurgitated each evening from the mouths of the gargoyles that surround the tower. We join Wendy Priest as she undertakes a count for the National Bat Monitoring Programme on a calm June evening.
- Follow Wendy on twitter and Instagram
- Discover more about Lacock Abbey and follow them on twitter, facebook and Instagram
- Take a look at the Wiltshire Bat Group's website, twitter, Instagram and Facebook page.
- Find out how to take part in the National Bat Monitoring Programme yourself
- Discover your local bat group
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Steve Roe (00:04):
Welcome back to BatChat, the award winning
podcast from the BatConservation Trust for anyone
with a fascination or interestin these amazing nocturnal
creatures. I'm Steve Roe, andthis is BatChat series five.
Yes, hello, we are back.
Continuing with a brand newseries and episodes will be
released every other Wednesdayfrom now until spring next year.
(00:27):
If you're new to BatChat Welcomealong. I'm Steve Rowe. I'm an
ecologist and in my spare timeas trustee for the Bat
Conservation Trust. Last week,we had a species specific
episode following our listenersurvey at the end of the last
series as several of you askedfor that. Another request from
that survey has been to find outmore about what local bank
groups are up to. And so thisweek we're after Wiltshire
Lacock Abbey lies a few milessouth of Chippenham and has a
(00:50):
spectacular soprano pipistrellematernity roost which is now
counted by Wendy Priest andvolunteers from Wiltshire bat
group. Back in June, Wendy, whonow works from the National
Trust, inviting me to help herundertake one of her accounts
for the National Bank monitoringprogramme. Lacock Village is
largely owned by the NationalTrust. And we join Wendy as we
sit on the lawn of the Abbey,waiting for it to get dark with
(01:10):
this Parkland behind beinggrazed by sheep on a calm
summer's evening.
(01:31):
As you can probably hear in thebackground, we're surrounded by
sheep and swift and it's a verystill warm evening in the middle
of June. And fans of HarryPotter will know where I am
quite well. I'm at LakeOkeechobee, which has been used
as a film location in several ofthose films. And I'm here with
Wendy priest from Wiltshire backgroup. When did you want to tell
(01:52):
us exactly where we are and whatwe're doing here tonight?
Wendy Priest (01:55):
Hi, Steve. Yes, we are here to count the soprano,
pipistrelles. It's a maternityroost and I have a group of
volunteers and we count thebats. And it gets recorded on
the national bat monitoringprogramme. It's very important
roost that has been the maximumamount has been 1078 bats. So it
(02:19):
is of high importance. And thisevening, we're here to count it
Steve Roe (02:24):
will come more on to why this is quite a notable
wrist in a minute. We'veactually heard from you before
you dropped the podcastvoicemail last year to tell us
how much you loved Bat Chat. Andyou actually did you get into
bats because of the research youwere told about in your rental
property at Mottisfont.
Wendy Priest (02:42):
Yes, so we rented a property from the National
Trust. And it had a barber stylematernity roost in the roof,
which is quite unusual becausethey are a forest bat. But it
was a no roost. And that waswhat sparked my initial
interest. I mean, we're goingback five years now. So I
(03:07):
speedily went out to purchase myfirst bat detector, which was
about baton which basically youdon't need to tune it it records
and then transfers onto alaptop. And then I superseded
that with my echo metre touchand recorded many 1000s of bats.
(03:28):
I think I had about 4000recordings from that property.
And then last July, we movedhere to Wiltshire and absolutely
thrilled to discover I've got asoprano, maternity pipistrelle
roost in the garden, and thenit's actually in the neighbor's
roof. But they fly over and Ican see them from my garden. And
(03:52):
I was absolutely amazed by that.
And there's we've got 143 thereat the moment, which will
increase when all the babiesstart flying in a few weeks
time. Nice.
Steve Roe (04:02):
I remember you were very excited to say you were
making a cup of tea for you. Andwhen you found
Wendy Priest (04:07):
Yes, they were swarming. They were swarming
outside of my cottage. And therewas quite a few at the time. I
think I was about 30 at thetime. And then I've been
regularly monitoring that reasonas well. And thrilled when they
all came back on April the firstthis year, they returned. So
really happy. And
Steve Roe (04:28):
how have you ended up taking over the MPNP counter
Laycock.
Wendy Priest (04:32):
Okay. So Tony Brazier monitored this race for
20 years. And he asked ifsomebody would like to take it
over because I think he wants togo and travel and do other
things. So I said yes, please.
And we met up last December, andhe handed over the roost
explained where the bats comeout and that there has been many
(04:54):
other species here. And it's allvery exciting.
Steve Roe (05:00):
The rooster has been featured on the Guardian
website. I think they describedit as gargoyles that spit out
for wings and fluff basically,wasn't it? Tell us about where
the roosters and how these batsemerge them.
Wendy Priest (05:17):
Right so the roof is at the top of Sherrington
tower. And there is at the topthere is gargoyles all the way
around the edge. And the batsactually emerge from the goggles
mouths. There's about fiveentrances that they use. And
it's quite a sight watching thememerge. We counted 104 138 bats
(05:43):
last Saturday, and this racedoes get over to 1000. And
watching them coming out is justabsolutely incredible.
Steve Roe (05:52):
And I say P count has been over. So I've I've only
been here during the day, manyyears ago. I've not I've never
been able to count the bats out.
So I'm really looking forward toseeing the spectacle. We've got
the IR camera with us tonight totry and get a film of it. How
many of the speeches beenrecorded in the wider area? Do
we know? Wiltshire has
Wendy Priest (06:13):
17 of the species of British bats here. Laycock
has quite a few species withinthe grounds. We're very lucky
that the River Avon runs alongthe boundary. And that's very
important. For bats. All batsneed water. We do get the door
(06:34):
Benton's bats from the rivercoming across. And we watch them
actually when you're countingthe bats. They are almost
inquisitive. And a couple ofweeks ago, they were flying
around Richard he was sitting.
The door Benton's was flyinground and round and round
watching him. It wasfascinating. Yeah, so there's
lesser horseshoes actuallyhibernate here in the building.
(06:55):
We had our very first lifelessbat that I recorded a few weeks
ago here, which has never beenrecorded in 20 years. That's
really exciting. Quite a rarebat. And obviously, becoming
more popular. So that was reallyexciting news, Wiltshire back
group. We're very excited aboutthat.
Steve Roe (07:16):
Yeah, I mean, the grounds are lovely. Like you
were saying, We've got, we'resat on quite a manicured lawn in
front of Shannon's tower and therest of the RV. To the right
lights on the boundary can justabout see the path of the Avon
loads of really large line treesand willows. And then behind us
loads of sheep grazing fescuepasture parkland, isn't it with
a load of oaks in the distance,and then the wider Welsh
(07:38):
countryside into the distance?
So it's really nice setting.
What national just think aboutthat. So do they tell the public
about them? During the dayvisitors go out there? Do you
know whether the roof chattercan be heard up there when the
public go up there?
Wendy Priest (07:49):
I don't believe that they can actually access up
to the top, there is the tablefrom William Sherrington. That I
know that you can go and see.
But the chatter they don't startto chatter till just before they
emerge, which you will hearlater. Normally, just after half
past nine, they get really,really chatty. The National
(08:09):
Trust, obviously very interestedin all the lovely bats that they
have. So and obviously they aremore than happy for us to come
and count and do our surveys.
Steve Roe (08:22):
And what is it that the Wilczek group put at the
moment what sort of otherprojects PoFo and BMP counts?
Wendy Priest (08:28):
Well, we, the the Bucha back group are very
active. There is lots and lotsof counts going on in different
areas. There's lots of batwalks, Wiltshire back group are
on Facebook, Twitter. They havea website, which is wheelchair
mammals. It's always best ifyou're interested. They're very
(08:50):
keen on new volunteers. Sothere's always lots and lots to
take part in lots of hibernationroosts. All sorts of counts are
always going on. They're veryactive. So this
Steve Roe (09:01):
one's counted for the MP MP, and you say you count the
one at home for the MBRP. Whatwould you say to listeners of
BatChat? Who are thinking, I'dquite like to do a count the MP,
what would you be your top tipsfor them?
Wendy Priest (09:15):
Go onto the website. And there is loads of
advice on how you can become avolunteer and how to how to take
part. Best things to find yourlocal back group, send them an
email and say that you wouldlike to join the back group.
It's they're very, very nominalfees, and then you they will
sign you up to certain peopleand then you can sort of go and
(09:37):
take part.
Steve Roe (09:38):
So I remember when you left the voicemail. I was
really impressed at howenthusiastic you are. What is it
about both bats and thenocturnal work that you love so
much?
Wendy Priest (09:48):
Because I work in evacs and we occasionally have
had bats brought in and nobodyreally knows what to do. The
vets do have knowledge Shouldn'tthey do their best, but as far
as somebody to care for thebats, there isn't any real, many
people that are also busy. So Ihave actually completed a
(10:10):
backcare course. And I've beento lots of lots of online
courses as well in backcare. AndI did have my first little bat a
couple of weeks ago, sadly,didn't make it. But I was able,
you know, poor little thing wasin a box for three days, the
owner of the property didn'tknow what to do with it. So I
(10:30):
sort of got it when it was sortof not at its best, but sadly,
very broken wing. And, yes, Iwas going to take it to the
vets. But it did pass away inthe night was gonna be one of my
colleagues. I've got newbecoming
Steve Roe (10:52):
right where we're watching next. Always think that
worker some deck chairs for thesort of
Wendy Priest (10:58):
thing, no, one of my volunteers brings a deck
chair. And he did absolutelymakes me laugh. He's brilliant.
Richard, he was so he absolutelyis a massive fan of yours. And
he couldn't come tonight. Itreally makes me laugh, come to
this massive lecture. And he'sone of my most loyal actually.
Steve Roe (11:18):
We haven't said how tall this thing is. It's quite a
lot. This is when when he's nowjust pulled out like the
pamphlet for Laycock. Wasn'tthat what does that say? It's
very intense isn't a contentspage. And?
Wendy Priest (11:36):
No, you can have this. Yeah, you have this.
That's so the towering the towerroom is in here. So that's got
that that's William Sherrington.
Special table. I don't think itsays how tall it is.
Steve Roe (11:53):
Enough to an hour's worth accounting, but it does.
So why is it called chunkingstyle? What's the history behind
that?
Wendy Priest (12:01):
It's named after William Sherrington, who
purchased the Abbey in 1540. Andhe paid the enormous fee of 783
pounds. So it was a nunnerybefore that for 300 years. And
then Henry the Eighth came onthe throne, and he sort of
(12:25):
disbanded all the monasteries.
And William Sherrington wasactually somebody that went
round, purchasing themonasteries and the nunneries
for themselves. But that wasquite a bargain.
Steve Roe (12:39):
So you've got a new volunteer along tonight Tom's
just arrived so you've justgiven him a crash course in how
to combat. Wiltshire has gotpretty much all of the UK
species as you were sayingearlier. Yeah. Have you got a
favourite species?
Wendy Priest (12:52):
Gosh, I'd like I do like the long is because they
look as though they're smiling.
But also I think the horseshoesdo. The greater horseshoes have
got lips. I there's somethingadorable about all of them. I am
a bit crazy about all of them. Iobviously love the soprano peps
because I have them in thegarden and I have them here. And
(13:13):
the door Benton's they come upand they fly around and they're
so curious. nachos are justwonderful. And they all are.
They're all really special. Idon't think actually I can pick
a favourite.
Steve Roe (13:29):
Another volunteer?
Yeah, the first day. Right?
Shall we get set up then andwait for it to get dark? So it's
just gone half nine. Twilight'sjust starting to arrive and when
do you think she's had the firstbetta already saw the kit set up
we've got Tom and Sue around thefar corner the tower counts that
(13:51):
that side and then Wendy myselfaround the slightly busier side
with infrared camera running. Sowe should wait and see.
Wendy Priest (14:01):
Exciting
Steve Roe (14:03):
and there's a nacelle going over somewhere
so they've just started toemerge now with a lovely
background check of a natrual inthe background
Wendy Priest (14:28):
they'll sit here and it's lovely. You know
anything? This is just there'ssomething so serene. I mean, you
know even in March we were allsitting here in jumpers and we
had our flask of Horlicks ormaybe all guys laugh they're
like the people still drinklakes
(14:58):
that was right over I had. So1036 was my last one last night.
Yeah.
Steve Roe (15:08):
Cool. Yeah.
Wendy Priest (15:10):
That's still coming. It's hard doesn't mean
to say compiler. Think nothingwe needed. I had a lot more bats
returning actually of my roostlast night. Yeah. I think
(15:32):
they've given birth. Yeah. Yeah.
Steve Roe (15:39):
On to 377?
Wendy Priest (15:55):
Well, I would say that given birth. Yeah, that's
why. Because we had 313. Left.
That's the baby side. Sue and,Tom, if you've got the same
amount What have you got? 198?
You could have maths. five,nine, isn't it?
Steve Roe (16:20):
One nine a one. This is what we did last week. So
what are we up to three, seven?
Yeah. 435435. Yeah.
Wendy Priest (16:28):
So we're three short, not bad.
Steve Roe (16:33):
Very good. And when it is noted that that's going
back a bit earlier. The sign toreturn to switch probably
suggest that given birth. Greatstuff. So whenever you have a
health new counting this risk,then through the summer, you are
going to do a couple more you'regoing to carry on monitoring
this for the rest of the summer.
Oh, absolutely.
Wendy Priest (16:51):
Absolutely. Yes.
We're hoping obviously to countwhen all the babies are flying.
And I intend to sort of comefortnightly at the moment. And
then we're hoping to obviouslydouble the amount of bats that
we're getting at the moment whenall the babies are born. And
then I'm interested to see howlong they are here until they go
to their hibernation route. So Iwill be coming throughout
(17:13):
September, early October.
Steve Roe (17:17):
Great stuff. Well, thank you very much for inviting
me along. It's been brilliant.
This has
Wendy Priest (17:21):
it's been great fun, hasn't it? Yeah,
absolutely. Yeah.
Steve Roe (17:28):
A massive thanks to Wendy priest for having me along
(17:53):
for the evening. We've put alink in the show notes to Wendy
(18:21):
social media, more informationabout Laycock, as well as the
(18:50):
Wiltshire Bank Group's websites.
I hope you've enjoyed the secondinstalment of series five,
(19:21):
please tell the world about BatChat on your social media
(19:48):
channels. And we'll be back intwo weeks time where to meet our
(20:15):
next guest. I had to get on aboat. See then I'm going to
(20:45):
leave you with five minutes ofsoprano pipistrelle rousse
(21:12):
chatter as they gather at theentrance to their roost on a
(21:39):
June evening it's worth puttingon a pair of headphones for this
(22:07):
and sitting somewhere quietclosing your eyes and take
(22:36):
yourself back to the summer.
Welcome back to BatChat, the award winning
podcast from the BatConservation Trust for anyone
with a fascination or interestin these amazing nocturnal
creatures. I'm Steve Roe, andthis is BatChat series five.
Yes, hello, we are back.
Continuing with a brand newseries and episodes will be
released every other Wednesdayfrom now until spring next year.
(00:27):
If you're new to BatChat Welcomealong. I'm Steve Rowe. I'm an
ecologist and in my spare timeas trustee for the Bat
Conservation Trust. Last week,we had a species specific
episode following our listenersurvey at the end of the last
series as several of you askedfor that. Another request from
that survey has been to find outmore about what local bank
groups are up to. And so thisweek we're after Wiltshire
Lacock Abbey lies a few milessouth of Chippenham and has a
(00:50):
spectacular soprano pipistrellematernity roost which is now
counted by Wendy Priest andvolunteers from Wiltshire bat
group. Back in June, Wendy, whonow works from the National
Trust, inviting me to help herundertake one of her accounts
for the National Bank monitoringprogramme. Lacock Village is
largely owned by the NationalTrust. And we join Wendy as we
sit on the lawn of the Abbey,waiting for it to get dark with
(01:10):
this Parkland behind beinggrazed by sheep on a calm
summer's evening.
(01:31):
As you can probably hear in thebackground, we're surrounded by
sheep and swift and it's a verystill warm evening in the middle
of June. And fans of HarryPotter will know where I am
quite well. I'm at LakeOkeechobee, which has been used
as a film location in several ofthose films. And I'm here with
Wendy priest from Wiltshire backgroup. When did you want to tell
(01:52):
us exactly where we are and whatwe're doing here tonight?
Wendy Priest (01:55):
Hi, Steve. Yes, we are here to count the soprano,
pipistrelles. It's a maternityroost and I have a group of
volunteers and we count thebats. And it gets recorded on
the national bat monitoringprogramme. It's very important
roost that has been the maximumamount has been 1078 bats. So it
(02:19):
is of high importance. And thisevening, we're here to count it
Steve Roe (02:24):
will come more on to why this is quite a notable
wrist in a minute. We'veactually heard from you before
you dropped the podcastvoicemail last year to tell us
how much you loved Bat Chat. Andyou actually did you get into
bats because of the research youwere told about in your rental
property at Mottisfont.
Wendy Priest (02:42):
Yes, so we rented a property from the National
Trust. And it had a barber stylematernity roost in the roof,
which is quite unusual becausethey are a forest bat. But it
was a no roost. And that waswhat sparked my initial
interest. I mean, we're goingback five years now. So I
(03:07):
speedily went out to purchase myfirst bat detector, which was
about baton which basically youdon't need to tune it it records
and then transfers onto alaptop. And then I superseded
that with my echo metre touchand recorded many 1000s of bats.
(03:28):
I think I had about 4000recordings from that property.
And then last July, we movedhere to Wiltshire and absolutely
thrilled to discover I've got asoprano, maternity pipistrelle
roost in the garden, and thenit's actually in the neighbor's
roof. But they fly over and Ican see them from my garden. And
(03:52):
I was absolutely amazed by that.
And there's we've got 143 thereat the moment, which will
increase when all the babiesstart flying in a few weeks
time. Nice.
Steve Roe (04:02):
I remember you were very excited to say you were
making a cup of tea for you. Andwhen you found
Wendy Priest (04:07):
Yes, they were swarming. They were swarming
outside of my cottage. And therewas quite a few at the time. I
think I was about 30 at thetime. And then I've been
regularly monitoring that reasonas well. And thrilled when they
all came back on April the firstthis year, they returned. So
really happy. And
Steve Roe (04:28):
how have you ended up taking over the MPNP counter
Laycock.
Wendy Priest (04:32):
Okay. So Tony Brazier monitored this race for
20 years. And he asked ifsomebody would like to take it
over because I think he wants togo and travel and do other
things. So I said yes, please.
And we met up last December, andhe handed over the roost
explained where the bats comeout and that there has been many
(04:54):
other species here. And it's allvery exciting.
Steve Roe (05:00):
The rooster has been featured on the Guardian
website. I think they describedit as gargoyles that spit out
for wings and fluff basically,wasn't it? Tell us about where
the roosters and how these batsemerge them.
Wendy Priest (05:17):
Right so the roof is at the top of Sherrington
tower. And there is at the topthere is gargoyles all the way
around the edge. And the batsactually emerge from the goggles
mouths. There's about fiveentrances that they use. And
it's quite a sight watching thememerge. We counted 104 138 bats
(05:43):
last Saturday, and this racedoes get over to 1000. And
watching them coming out is justabsolutely incredible.
Steve Roe (05:52):
And I say P count has been over. So I've I've only
been here during the day, manyyears ago. I've not I've never
been able to count the bats out.
So I'm really looking forward toseeing the spectacle. We've got
the IR camera with us tonight totry and get a film of it. How
many of the speeches beenrecorded in the wider area? Do
we know? Wiltshire has
Wendy Priest (06:13):
17 of the species of British bats here. Laycock
has quite a few species withinthe grounds. We're very lucky
that the River Avon runs alongthe boundary. And that's very
important. For bats. All batsneed water. We do get the door
(06:34):
Benton's bats from the rivercoming across. And we watch them
actually when you're countingthe bats. They are almost
inquisitive. And a couple ofweeks ago, they were flying
around Richard he was sitting.
The door Benton's was flyinground and round and round
watching him. It wasfascinating. Yeah, so there's
lesser horseshoes actuallyhibernate here in the building.
(06:55):
We had our very first lifelessbat that I recorded a few weeks
ago here, which has never beenrecorded in 20 years. That's
really exciting. Quite a rarebat. And obviously, becoming
more popular. So that was reallyexciting news, Wiltshire back
group. We're very excited aboutthat.
Steve Roe (07:16):
Yeah, I mean, the grounds are lovely. Like you
were saying, We've got, we'resat on quite a manicured lawn in
front of Shannon's tower and therest of the RV. To the right
lights on the boundary can justabout see the path of the Avon
loads of really large line treesand willows. And then behind us
loads of sheep grazing fescuepasture parkland, isn't it with
a load of oaks in the distance,and then the wider Welsh
(07:38):
countryside into the distance?
So it's really nice setting.
What national just think aboutthat. So do they tell the public
about them? During the dayvisitors go out there? Do you
know whether the roof chattercan be heard up there when the
public go up there?
Wendy Priest (07:49):
I don't believe that they can actually access up
to the top, there is the tablefrom William Sherrington. That I
know that you can go and see.
But the chatter they don't startto chatter till just before they
emerge, which you will hearlater. Normally, just after half
past nine, they get really,really chatty. The National
(08:09):
Trust, obviously very interestedin all the lovely bats that they
have. So and obviously they aremore than happy for us to come
and count and do our surveys.
Steve Roe (08:22):
And what is it that the Wilczek group put at the
moment what sort of otherprojects PoFo and BMP counts?
Wendy Priest (08:28):
Well, we, the the Bucha back group are very
active. There is lots and lotsof counts going on in different
areas. There's lots of batwalks, Wiltshire back group are
on Facebook, Twitter. They havea website, which is wheelchair
mammals. It's always best ifyou're interested. They're very
(08:50):
keen on new volunteers. Sothere's always lots and lots to
take part in lots of hibernationroosts. All sorts of counts are
always going on. They're veryactive. So this
Steve Roe (09:01):
one's counted for the MP MP, and you say you count the
one at home for the MBRP. Whatwould you say to listeners of
BatChat? Who are thinking, I'dquite like to do a count the MP,
what would you be your top tipsfor them?
Wendy Priest (09:15):
Go onto the website. And there is loads of
advice on how you can become avolunteer and how to how to take
part. Best things to find yourlocal back group, send them an
email and say that you wouldlike to join the back group.
It's they're very, very nominalfees, and then you they will
sign you up to certain peopleand then you can sort of go and
(09:37):
take part.
Steve Roe (09:38):
So I remember when you left the voicemail. I was
really impressed at howenthusiastic you are. What is it
about both bats and thenocturnal work that you love so
much?
Wendy Priest (09:48):
Because I work in evacs and we occasionally have
had bats brought in and nobodyreally knows what to do. The
vets do have knowledge Shouldn'tthey do their best, but as far
as somebody to care for thebats, there isn't any real, many
people that are also busy. So Ihave actually completed a
(10:10):
backcare course. And I've beento lots of lots of online
courses as well in backcare. AndI did have my first little bat a
couple of weeks ago, sadly,didn't make it. But I was able,
you know, poor little thing wasin a box for three days, the
owner of the property didn'tknow what to do with it. So I
(10:30):
sort of got it when it was sortof not at its best, but sadly,
very broken wing. And, yes, Iwas going to take it to the
vets. But it did pass away inthe night was gonna be one of my
colleagues. I've got newbecoming
Steve Roe (10:52):
right where we're watching next. Always think that
worker some deck chairs for thesort of
Wendy Priest (10:58):
thing, no, one of my volunteers brings a deck
chair. And he did absolutelymakes me laugh. He's brilliant.
Richard, he was so he absolutelyis a massive fan of yours. And
he couldn't come tonight. Itreally makes me laugh, come to
this massive lecture. And he'sone of my most loyal actually.
Steve Roe (11:18):
We haven't said how tall this thing is. It's quite a
lot. This is when when he's nowjust pulled out like the
pamphlet for Laycock. Wasn'tthat what does that say? It's
very intense isn't a contentspage. And?
Wendy Priest (11:36):
No, you can have this. Yeah, you have this.
That's so the towering the towerroom is in here. So that's got
that that's William Sherrington.
Special table. I don't think itsays how tall it is.
Steve Roe (11:53):
Enough to an hour's worth accounting, but it does.
So why is it called chunkingstyle? What's the history behind
that?
Wendy Priest (12:01):
It's named after William Sherrington, who
purchased the Abbey in 1540. Andhe paid the enormous fee of 783
pounds. So it was a nunnerybefore that for 300 years. And
then Henry the Eighth came onthe throne, and he sort of
(12:25):
disbanded all the monasteries.
And William Sherrington wasactually somebody that went
round, purchasing themonasteries and the nunneries
for themselves. But that wasquite a bargain.
Steve Roe (12:39):
So you've got a new volunteer along tonight Tom's
just arrived so you've justgiven him a crash course in how
to combat. Wiltshire has gotpretty much all of the UK
species as you were sayingearlier. Yeah. Have you got a
favourite species?
Wendy Priest (12:52):
Gosh, I'd like I do like the long is because they
look as though they're smiling.
But also I think the horseshoesdo. The greater horseshoes have
got lips. I there's somethingadorable about all of them. I am
a bit crazy about all of them. Iobviously love the soprano peps
because I have them in thegarden and I have them here. And
(13:13):
the door Benton's they come upand they fly around and they're
so curious. nachos are justwonderful. And they all are.
They're all really special. Idon't think actually I can pick
a favourite.
Steve Roe (13:29):
Another volunteer?
Yeah, the first day. Right?
Shall we get set up then andwait for it to get dark? So it's
just gone half nine. Twilight'sjust starting to arrive and when
do you think she's had the firstbetta already saw the kit set up
we've got Tom and Sue around thefar corner the tower counts that
(13:51):
that side and then Wendy myselfaround the slightly busier side
with infrared camera running. Sowe should wait and see.
Wendy Priest (14:01):
Exciting
Steve Roe (14:03):
and there's a nacelle going over somewhere
so they've just started toemerge now with a lovely
background check of a natrual inthe background
Wendy Priest (14:28):
they'll sit here and it's lovely. You know
anything? This is just there'ssomething so serene. I mean, you
know even in March we were allsitting here in jumpers and we
had our flask of Horlicks ormaybe all guys laugh they're
like the people still drinklakes
(14:58):
that was right over I had. So1036 was my last one last night.
Yeah.
Steve Roe (15:08):
Cool. Yeah.
Wendy Priest (15:10):
That's still coming. It's hard doesn't mean
to say compiler. Think nothingwe needed. I had a lot more bats
returning actually of my roostlast night. Yeah. I think
(15:32):
they've given birth. Yeah. Yeah.
Steve Roe (15:39):
On to 377?
Wendy Priest (15:55):
Well, I would say that given birth. Yeah, that's
why. Because we had 313. Left.
That's the baby side. Sue and,Tom, if you've got the same
amount What have you got? 198?
You could have maths. five,nine, isn't it?
Steve Roe (16:20):
One nine a one. This is what we did last week. So
what are we up to three, seven?
Yeah. 435435. Yeah.
Wendy Priest (16:28):
So we're three short, not bad.
Steve Roe (16:33):
Very good. And when it is noted that that's going
back a bit earlier. The sign toreturn to switch probably
suggest that given birth. Greatstuff. So whenever you have a
health new counting this risk,then through the summer, you are
going to do a couple more you'regoing to carry on monitoring
this for the rest of the summer.
Oh, absolutely.
Wendy Priest (16:51):
Absolutely. Yes.
We're hoping obviously to countwhen all the babies are flying.
And I intend to sort of comefortnightly at the moment. And
then we're hoping to obviouslydouble the amount of bats that
we're getting at the moment whenall the babies are born. And
then I'm interested to see howlong they are here until they go
to their hibernation route. So Iwill be coming throughout
(17:13):
September, early October.
Steve Roe (17:17):
Great stuff. Well, thank you very much for inviting
me along. It's been brilliant.
This has
Wendy Priest (17:21):
it's been great fun, hasn't it? Yeah,
absolutely. Yeah.
Steve Roe (17:28):
A massive thanks to Wendy priest for having me along
(17:53):
for the evening. We've put alink in the show notes to Wendy
(18:21):
social media, more informationabout Laycock, as well as the
(18:50):
Wiltshire Bank Group's websites.
I hope you've enjoyed the secondinstalment of series five,
(19:21):
please tell the world about BatChat on your social media
(19:48):
channels. And we'll be back intwo weeks time where to meet our
(20:15):
next guest. I had to get on aboat. See then I'm going to
(20:45):
leave you with five minutes ofsoprano pipistrelle rousse
(21:12):
chatter as they gather at theentrance to their roost on a
(21:39):
June evening it's worth puttingon a pair of headphones for this
(22:07):
and sitting somewhere quietclosing your eyes and take
(22:36):
yourself back to the summer.
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