Species Common name | Species Latin name | Status in Jersey |
Greater Horseshoe Bat | Rhinolophus ferrumequinum | Recorded in St Martin in 2013 |
Whiskered Bat | Myotis mystacinus | Droppings analysed in St Lawrence and confirmed 2012 |
Alcathoe Bat | Myotis alcathoe | Captured female in St Catherines woods 13/05/2016. Confirmed by DNA analysis |
Natterer’s Bat | Myotis nattereri | Uncommon resident. Recorded in St. Catherine’s Woods on 23 April 2014. Trapped in harp trap and photographed on 06 July 14 also in St Catherines Woods |
Leisler’s Bat | Nyctalus leisleri | One male individual recorded 20 May 2002. Believed to be a vagrant. One probable example recorded and seen at an emergence survey at St Lawrence in Sept 2014. |
Serotine Bat | Eptesicus serotinus | One individual recorded in 2013 in St Mary. Droppings analysed and confirmed. Observed again in same place in 2014. Recorded again in 2015. Droppings confirmed at large property in St; Ouen, also recorded there. |
Common Pipistrelle | Pipistrellus pipistrellus | Very common resident. Found in most Jersey locations |
Soprano Pipistrelle | Pipistrellus pygmaeus | Relatively common resident. Heard at St Catherine’s Woods. Several caught in Harp trap in St. Caths Woods on 06 Jul 14 |
Nathusius Pipistrelle | Pipistrellus nathusii | Relatively common resident. Recorded at Val de la Mare reservoir. Found roosting in our bat boxes in Sept 2015. Captured in Val de la Mare Reservoir. |
Kuhl’s Pipistrelle | Pipistrellus kuhli | Uncommon resident. Captured at Val de la Mare reservoir in July 2016 |
Brown Long-eared Bat | Plecotus auritus | Two individuals recorded in 2002 & 2003. One example found in bat box in St Peters Valley late 2015 which stayed the winter. Captured in harp traps and net in July 2016 |
Grey Long-eared Bat | Plecotus austriacus | Relatively common resident. Very quiet calls so difficult to record. Maternity roost discovered in St Peter in July 2014. Captured at St. Catherines in July 2016 |
Geoffroy’s Bat | Myotis emarginatus | Droppings found at St Ouen and analysed as being Geoffroy’s. |
Daubenton’s Bat | Myotis daubentonii | Captured male at Val de la Mare Reservoir on 23 July 2016. Recorded at La Hague reservoir in Aug 2015 |
The last island-wide survey, The Jersey Bat Survey, was carried out by Louise Magris of the States of Jersey Environment Department, dated October 2003. Now, in 2016 the Jersey Bat Group are expanding the Woodland project to include netting/harp trapping of bats to identify the baseline species that occur here. We have already added two species to our inventory, Alcathoe and Daubenton’s, and hope to discover more.
In 2013 the Bat group discovered a Serotine roost which consisted of one or more Serotine bats in St. Mary’s Church. This species has been recorded many times since then in St Mary’s Village and at a private Waterworks station. In 2015 it was recorded at a large property in St Ouen and several times in St Peter and St Mary.
Many hours were spent viewing and recording the emergence and return of a single Serotine bat on the south side of the church. This bat was visible on several occasions just before dusk and due to size and colour was suspected to be a Serotine. Ecolocation recording confirmed that the bat was most likely a Serotine and lastly, we were able to analyse it’s droppings for the final confirmation.
Also in 2013, whilst Orly Razgour, Phd graduate from Bristol university, was over in Jersey surveying for Grey Long-eared bats, she discovered a Greater Horseshoe call on one of her recordings. The ecolocation call of this bat is very distinctive and is unlikely to be mixed up with any other bats. More investigation is needed to discover whether this bat was a vagrant or is a resident.
A call resembling a Noctule was recorded in St Peter’s Valley in July 2014 so it is likely that this species exists here in the summer at least, probably as a vagrant from France.
In August 2015 a small bat was seen skimming the water over one of our small reservoirs. We managed to take recordings which did indeed resemble those of a Daubenton’s. Finally we have confirmed this sighting by capturing a Daubenton’s Bat at Val de la Mare Reservoir in July 2016.