On 19/5/05, mike.wilson, discombobulated, unleashed: >Here's a conundrum. I've been doing bat surveys for the last few weeks, >as it is that time of year. Mostly it is quite easy turn up at dusk or >dawn (or both, which is quite hard....) wander round with a bat detector >and note anything flying. If it's a big roost you can often spot it >quickly, if it's smaller more visits will be needed to pin it down. >But...... > >It turns out that there is a commmon specie of bat around here that is >comparitively solitary and does not register well on a bat detector. My >thought is that the easiest way to spot these would be by photography. >They tend to use barns and these often have largeish openings that the >bat is most likely to use. The two thoughts I have had are: > >1) use a video camera on a tripod and film the opening. That means >someone will have to sit and watch the ~2 hours of video. >2) use trap focus to catch individuals.
We have a fairly cheap Video 8 digi camcorder that has an infrared light on it and when set for IR capture, it's quite astonishing what detail can clearly be seen in the pitch black (visible) light. I am certain it would record a bat flying through frame at say 20 feet away. This is the camcorder: <http://tinyurl.com/ac4nn> HTH Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| http://www.cottysnaps.com _____________________________
