Batty behaviour in broad daylight!

[Mal Grey]

By the river Wey yesterday, a bat, possibly a Daubenton's*, was out just before midday, flying around in the warm sunshine.











Watched it for a good ten minutes, wasting dozens of photos trying to catch it in the lens...thank goodness for the digital era!

(*been suggested its a serotine, which is looking likely)

[CharlesT]

Great photos, 10/10 for persistence. Perhaps it was really hungry and couldn't wait for dusk. Your id looks spot on.

[Alteknacker]

Really superb pics. I envy you the experience...

[Mal Grey]

Great photos, 10/10 for persistence. Perhaps it was really hungry and couldn't wait for dusk. Your id looks spot on.

Cheers

Its been suggested on a UK wildlife FB group, by someone who clearly knows what they're talking about, that they are probably a serotine bat, which I'd never heard of. They are known to fly in daylight, particularly just after hibernation.

[Mal Grey]

Really superb pics. I envy you the experience...

It was great to see. A whole bunch of us watched it for ages.

We often have them flying around us whilst canoeing at dusk, which is always magical, but all you ever see is the outline flittering past.

[KatTai]

Cracking photos! Bats can be seen out and about in the daytime especially just after/before hibernation when they really need to feed well but even in the summer they can be out and about in daylight. I've seen a few different species flying in the day time.

[Caberfeidh]

Well done getting those photos! I saw bats flying around at dusk up at the top of the road in Glen Nevis recently, they were too quick for me to photograph. The only time I ever photographed a bat was after I hit one with a landrover and laminated it to my headlamp. I had to swerve wildly for ages to get it...

Roadkill Bat