A bad thing had happened. I had driven Simba the car through a flood and possibly killed him. Outcome still uncertain on the night of the bat survey - but one thing was for sure: I had no transport.
Mischa to the rescue! Incredibly kindly, she collected me so that I could walk through the woods at night. I am so grateful. It cost her quite a bit of sleep!
Anyway, I'd missed the previous survey when they'd heard Daubenton's and noctules as well as both pipistrelles. And in one area, apparently, they'd never heard so many bats.
We focused on that area. Radio silence. Nothing. Twenty minutes and one bat showed up.
So, we went on and did see some feeding activity across the meadow.
Then we went down to the water... and it was magical!
The birds were gulls coming in to eat whatever the bats were after.
All of us were awe-struck, wonder-struck, entranced.
I met two new people on the survey. Arborist Daniel who wants to know as much as he can to ensure that he can preserve as many trees as possible when he's asked to cut them down! He specialises in climbing and he said, this is amazing, that when he climbs a tree, he can sense from its movement, whether or not it is a healthy, happy tree. He said he can't explain in words: he just knows. Then an older lady who runs her own gardening business. She has been involved in surveys for many years and seemed to have a profound, yet light, bright and loving connection to all living things. She spoke of plants as many people speak of humans.
How wonderful that Mischa made this possible. And how wonderful that the bats were out in force!
How wonderful!