top of page
WHO WE ARE

Here at the South Yorkshire Bat Group, we are committed to advancing the protection and conservation of bats in the south Yorkshire area, and we want you to get involved!


We're batty about all things bats and we want to spread the word about these ecologically important and amazing species.

 

Our members get together to monitor and survey bats in a variety of ways. This information is then used in research like the Sheffield State of Nature Report.
 

Become A Member

Bat Group member looking down at a bat

Get invites to exclusive events

 Become part of something special

WHAT WE DO

Events take place throughout the year, from monitoring roosts at dawn to night-time bat walks or just a day out with the family learning about bats and roosts. We cover it all. Follow us on Facebook to stay up to date.

 

We also offer bat records to businesses at very competitive rates - get more details here.

Public engagement

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

We love to enthuse others about bats. Members of SYBG lead regular bat walks for Friends of Hyde Park Cemetery, Friends of Cannon Hall and Wharncliffe Heathlands Trust, with occasional walks for a wide range of other organisations including RSPB Old Moor.

 

Our members also deliver talks to other local natural history groups as well as to other bat specialists at local and national bat conferences.

 

Written articles from bat group members find their way into publications ranging from village newsletters through to local journals such as The Naturalist and Northern Bats.

Hyde Park Cemetery Bat Walk 2016.JPG
IMG_4383.jpg
National Bat Monitoring Surveys

NATIONAL BAT MONITORING PROGRAMME SURVEYS

Contributing to the National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP) is a big part of what we do. The NBMP gathers robust information about trends in bat populations; helping to inform the understanding of how wildlife is coping in our changing world.

 

Every winter we count hibernating bats in tunnels, viaducts, kilns and caves, centred on three locations in the county.

 

In summer we count bats out of their breeding roosts as well as carrying out twice yearly bat survey transects in Graves Park in Sheffield.

IMG_1790.JPG
adj bat processing.JPG
Swarming and trapping

SWARMING AND TRAPPING

Over the past few years, our flagship project has been the autumn swarming work we’ve been undertaking. Autumn swarming sites are known to be important for Myotis and Plecotus bats, particularly for social interaction near the end of the bats active season.

 

The work we’ve done within the bat group has helped to identify two major autumn swarming sites within South Yorkshire, one of which is likely to be used by many hundreds of Natterer’s bats across a season. More information can be found here, and here. We are currently engaged in a project focused on mapping the distribution of Whiskered bats and Brandt's bats in West Sheffield, by surveying woodlands that we expect to support one or both of these cryptic species. More information can be found here.  

pexels-photo-249097.jpeg
Bat box checks

BAT BOX CHECKS

Our ever-popular bat box checks give our group members a rare opportunity to get up close with South Yorkshire’s bats.

 

We have five bat box schemes checked by the group with our oldest being more than ten years old. The older the scheme, the more bat interest there seems to be.

 

We’ve now recorded a healthy population of noctules, and a breeding population of Natterer’s bats using the South Yorkshire Bat Group bat boxes.

BLE in Q42 13-10-12.jpg
IMG_4600.jpg
bottom of page