The recent bank holiday Monday was, for once, “a hot ’an” and I spent some time in a woodland at dusk.

There were lots of flying insects and on the hunt for them were bats. The most common species is the smallest of our bats which is the pipistrelle which is common everywhere.

Bats are, however, protected by law and can only be handled by those who have a licence. It is also illegal to disturb any colony of bats which means that those involved in the building trade have to be particularly careful.

A few years ago I spent some time with a group of Bat scientists who were looking at the life history of the Noctule Bat. To find out more about them they were able to ring them. The Noctule is one of the largest British bats and has a wing span of 14in.

Noctules are woodland dwellers and feed mainly on night flying moths. They are mainly brown in colour but this is not obvious as they fly at night but those who study where they rest point out that the colour is that of a ripe chestnut.

The phrase blind as a bat is not totally true as they do have tiny eyes but they catch their food by means of sound which works in a similar way to radar.

Bats are not birds but mammals and their wings are not the same.

Their fingers are long and stretched between them and folds of skin.

My study of bats is yet another example to those people who only study people in daylight. Mother Nature’s nightlife is a fascinating study.

Flower of the Week: The Dandelion

HERE is another example of a species so common people think that it is not interesting. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are just a few facts.

  • The name is said to come from the Norman French dent-de-lion. The roots do look like a tooth of a lion.
  • The flowers have been used to forecast the weather. They open fully in bright sunshine and close tight when there is rain.
  • The dandelion has been used in medicine. Its scientific name is T araxacum officinale. The word office originally meant the base of an apothecary and was used long before our use of the word. Wherever you see a flower labelled officianale you can be sure that it did work.
  • Dandelion has been used to treat consumption, rheumatism, arthritis, indigestion, liver and kidney disorders and for high blood pressure.
  • The leaves and the flowers contain vitamins A, B and C and have long been used in salads.

Netting a legacy of machine age

David G Atwood of Clayton-le-Dale asks why some hedgerows are covered in a green netting. The answer would seem to be that when hedges are cut using big machines the shape of the structure is not even and there can be sharp twigs protruding.

This did not happen in the old days when skilled hedge cutters did the job by hand. As the hedge grows the netting helps to keep the shape. I am not too happy about this because it must restrict the movement of wildlife, especially of birds.

Mr Atwood noticed this at the bottom of Wilpshire Road as it joins Lee Lane.