COMMON PIPISTRELLE

I managed to escape the office for 20 minutes.
Just went for a tiny walk along the Thames at Caversham Lock, Reading.The light was just coming good, and I stood right by thr river for 5 minutes watching two Common Pipistrelle bats hunting furiously around me before (like me!) returning home to roost for the day. (Although, unlike me, I don't suppose they'll have to get up within a few hours to dig over a vegetable plot)!

The Common Pipistrelle is our most common and smallest bat. I did actually see one hunting outside Anna's parents place at the weekend, but thought I'd wait until I got a nicer, longer view, before posting about bats on "Blue-Grey".

These bats today were never flying higher than about 8' and a couple of times were almost skimming the water, hunting for insects in the cool morning air.
They got very, very close to me every time they completed their 'hunting loop' also, but, of course, never would hit me - their sonar is FAR too sophisticated for that to happen.

I just wonder where they roost? There are no particularly old buildings around this area, though there are a couple of run-down wooden boat-houses on the lock island, and lots of old, tall trees lining the river. I suppose they've set up a roost in one of those places, and will be back there within the hour....

NB. A bat flew out of a hole in the ceiling during one of Anna's biology lessons at her workplace the other day - which as you can imagine, caused mayhem with her students concentration- end of her lesson on (not bats unfortunately), the human menstrual cycle!

Anyway, very nice to see, at one of my favourite times of day...