So, let's make a topic where everybody can just tell stuff and/or discuss it. Basically, if you want to discuss something non-movie related, or you're happy because you got a raise, sad because your bike has a flat tire or you found this great new beer: shout it out loud!
For me, today I broke my phone. The screen randomly decided to die, while it was in my pocket and I was sitting still. No idea what happened, but it was about time I renewed my contract and got a new phone, so now I ordered a Galaxy S2 (and my parents can't complain that I still had a perfectly good phone ;)). Also, I am really looking forward to saturday: first bat catching of the year for me! I just hope the weather will get a bit better.
Aaaaand back! Unfortunately it was too cold, and only got one pipistrelle before we took down the nets (quite early). :( However, also did some mouse-research this morning and caught a couple, as well as having found tracks of brown rat, beaver, badger and polecat.
Edit: A tree that got attacked by beavers :) (and also a demonstration of the quality my new phone takes pictures with).
Today I did some bird watching, for a change :) Lot of fun birds, and even managed to see two rare species for the country: the terek sandpiper and the greater sand plover. And a lot of my favorite stilts: The pied avocet, of which I just thinks it looks great.
This weekend I caught: Thursday: 1 brown long-eared bat and 1 greater mouse-eared bat. Friday: 11 common pippistrelles and 3 brown long-eared bats. Saturday: 13 brown long-eared bats, 5 greater mouse-eared bats, 14 common pippistrelles and 1 natterer's bat. Sunday: 16 common pippistrelles, 1 whiskered bat, 1 greater mouse-eared bat and 2 brown long-eared bats. Giving a total of 69 bats of 5 different species.
In total, our two groups put 13 transmitters on female bats, of which 9 are still active at the moment and 1 dropped off the same night but was found back (saving money). One of the greater mouse-eared ones went to a known colony, the rest all went to new trees. Some pictures:
If you look closely, you can see a transmitter glued to the back of this second one.
All in all, a major succes for 4 nights of work (even though these were all 12 to 16 hours per day/night and we were working in two teams).
Next to this, I want to share some amazing footage of bats with you. It is a german documentary, but even if you don't understand, the images speak for themselves. They are each about 15 minutes long. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3:
Note: All my bats were handled by professionals that are fully vaccinated against rabies. NEVER try to handle a (living or dead) bat yourself. If you encounter a bat, contact an expert. For most countries there are lists to be found on the internet with instructions on how to deal with these situations. If there are any questions, I'm always available to give advice.