National Bat Monitoring Programme

🌇🦇 Are you interested in getting closer to nature? Want to help conservation efforts, but not sure where to start? Or are you just curious about bats and other nocturnal animals? If the answer to any of these is YES, you should join our Sunset Survey! It's perfect for beginners and requires no experience or equipment. 🦇 Spend an hour looking for bats and other nocturnal wildlife in your local area. You can do this as much or as little as you want between April and October. 🦇 Write down what you see, then enter your results online: https://bit.ly/BCT-ss 🦇 Take part from your garden, local green space, balcony or window! 🦇 Enjoy nature with friends and family 🦇 Win fun prizes in our monthly giveaways for volunteers! (Details announced soon.) Follow us for more info, tips and updates! Find out more on our website: https://bit.ly/BCT-ss ❓ What was the last animal you saw outside? #UKVolunteering #ConservationVolunteering #BatConservation _________________ Photo credits: Fox © Tracey Parsons / bats.org.uk Badger © Paul Saunders / bats.org.uk Brown long-eared bat © Hugh Clark / bats.org.uk

🎁GIVEAWAY ALERT! We've partnered up with businesses such as @socktopusofficial , Magenta and @openacoustics to bring some rewards to our wonderful citizen scientists. 👉 Take part in the Sunset Survey for a chance to win goodies such as: - One year of @batconservationtrust membership (Individual, Family or Young Batworker's Membership) - @socktopusofficial bat socks - "Identifying bats in flight" 28-page booklet - Bat jewellery - BCT British Bats enamel pins - A place on our British Bats, Their Ecology and Conservation online course - Various books about bats, including children's books - and more! This year we're bumping it up to 2️⃣ winners each month! Moreover, this time winners will be able to choose the prizes they want. Everyone who submits their survey results is eligible - no need to do anything else. However, we do encourage you to share your volunteer journey on social media and tag us - we'd love to see what you've been up to 🥸 At the end of the survey season (November) we will award ⭐Star Volunteer Prizes to the top 5️⃣ volunteers who have submitted the most surveys overall. This prize pool will include a Magenta Bat5 heterodyne bat detector, an AudioMoth recording device and other higher-value rewards. Keep an eye on our page to stay in the loop 👀 ❓Questions? Comment or DM and we'll get back to you! 🗨️Comment "SUNSET" to receive survey sign-up info in DMs #UKVolunteering #ConservationVolunteering #EcologyVolunteering

The official Sunset Survey Weekend is here! Take part and help us find if you have bats in your area. Anyone can take part. Yes, anyone. Whether you are 10 or 100+, live in the city or the countryside, know lots about bats or nothing at all. More info in the link in our bio. All you have to do is sit in your garden or local park for 1h at sunset and record any and all wildlife you see.

📢 Calling all UK naturalists! The official Sunset Survey weekend ( Friday 15th May 2026 - Sunday 17th May 2026) is fast approaching! Why not spend a relaxing evening noting down wildlife around you? 🌇 As a small reward to our volunteers, we're doing an extra giveaway of our British bat enamel pins (six winners, one random badge per winner). Simply submit results for a survey done within the weekend to be eligible! For an extra entry, share your survey experience on Instagram using #SunsetSurvey and tag @nationalbatmonitoringprogramme 🦇 You can also let us know which bat you would prefer to receive, although we can't guarantee it. 💬 Comment SUNSET to receive survey info in DMs! #UKConservation #BatConservation

Happy #AutismAcceptanceMonth! New hyperfixation just dropped 🤩 Why nature volunteering is a great activity for autistic people 👇 1️⃣ It's grounding Being in nature can calm the mind and help you cope with the everyday overwhelm. 2️⃣ It's great for nerds Isn't it fun to categorise stuff? Many autistic people enjoy putting things into categories. They can also develop strong interests and knowledge in favourite topics. And that's exactly what we do in citizen science! 3️⃣ You might make friends! Making friends can be difficult, right? Doing a nature survey is a great structured social activity around a shared interest. You might just find your people in your local bat group! (But can also do surveys alone if you prefer) 4️⃣ Meaning and self-development Only 30% of autistic adults have a job, making autism the condition with the highest rate of unemployment. (gov.uk, Employment of disabled people 2023) Whether you are able to work or not, volunteering can help you channel your skills into something meaningful, learn new things and develop as a person. 🌇🗨️ If you're interested in taking part in our beginner-friendly Sunset Survey, comment "SUNSET" to receive a DM with sign-up info! This post was made by Magnus, our Volunteer Engagement Officer, who is autistic. Below is a personal message from them: Hi everyone! Happy Autism Acceptance Month 😊 We are @batconservationtrust , and we welcome people from all walks of life into citizen science volunteering. I myself am autistic and multiply disabled, so I know how isolating it can be. If you experience any barriers due to autism or another condition, let us know in the comments or via DMs, and we'll do our best to come up with ideas to help. You can also email me at [email protected]. Stay awesome, stay yourself and never let anyone tell you that your brain isn't a beautiful thing. 🧠🌈 --- Photo credit: Brown long-eared bat eating moth, Natterer's bat flying © Daniel Hargreaves / bats.org.uk Brown long-eared bat sitting © Hugh Clark / bats.org.uk Volunteers 1 © Philip Briggs / bats.org.uk Volunteers 2 © Michelle Parsons / bats.org.uk Bat detector © Ife Akinroyeje / bats.org.uk

🌅 Ever wondered what’s flying above your garden at sunset…? It’s not just “a bat”… it’s a whole hidden world. Tonight, I grabbed my detector, stepped outside, and became a bat scientist for an hour. And guess what showed up 👇 🦇 Soprano Pipistrelle 🦇 Common Pipistrelle 🦇 Noctule Three species. One garden. One sunset. That’s the magic of the Bat Conservation Trust National Bat Monitoring Programme Sunset Survey. You don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need fancy kit. You just need curiosity… and a sunset (or sunrise) Visit @batconservationtrust bio or webpage for more info. Sign up, spend sometime outside and submit your results… it really is that easy… there are even prizes available! Every survey helps protect bats by building a picture of how they’re doing across the UK. So next time the sun goes down… step outside, listen closely, and join in. 🦇 Who’s up for becoming a bat detective this summer? #Bats #CitizenScience #SunsetSurvey #BatConservationTrust #NationalBatMonitoringProgramme @batconservationtrust @nationalbatmonitoringprogramme @batconservationinternational @wildlifeacoustics @silhouettes_clothing

🦇Happy Bat Appreciation Day!💜 👉If you are in the UK and want to help bats, why not join the National Bat Monitoring Programme as a volunteer? We run a variety of citizen science surveys for all experience levels. Right now we're running the Sunset Survey, which is very easy to do and perfect for beginners, and is a great activity to do with family and friends. 💬Comment "GUIDE" to get a DM with everything you need to get started! ❓What do YOU appreciate about bats? ________ Image description: A graphic on a black and purple background featuring a fruit bat flying up to a vibrant red flower with bright green leaves, as well a common pipistrelle and the Bat Conservation Trust Logo. Text reads: "Happy Bat Appreciation day! Bats are amazing! They play a vital role in ecosystems all over the world. In the UK they help control insect populations. Wordwide, fruit bats are excellent pollinators and seed dispersers. And they’re important to science too: monitoring bats can tell us a lot about the health of our environment." __________ Photo credit: Pallas' Long-Tongued Bat © Ondrej Prosicky Flying pipistrelle © Hugh Clark / bats.org.uk

Our Linktree got a facelift! ✨ Check it out to find everything you need to get involved with our surveys! Check our bio or comment "LINK" to get it DM'd to you. Photo credit: © Daniel Hargreaves / bats.org.uk

✨ The Sunset Survey season has officially begun! Will you be the first to submit your results? Check the links in our bio to sign up! ❓Will you take part? Have you done a nature survey before? Let us know in the comments! _____________ Photo credit: Brown long-eared bat in bat box - © Daniel Hargreaves / bats.org.uk Brown long-eared bat flying - © Hugh Clark / bats.org.uk Daubenton's bat flying - © Kevin Durose / bats.org.uk

❓What do you think of bats? Do you find them scary, interesting or cute? 🦇🦇🦇 You might just discover a new side of them by observing them in the wild. Join our Sunset Survey to get to know your local bats and other night-time wildlife! 🌇 #Conservation #BatConservation #UKVolunteering _________________ Photo credit: Fluffy flying bat, insect eating bat © Daniel Hargreaves / bats.org.uk Sitting bat © Hugh Clark / bats.org.uk

❓Have you ever seen a bat? Would you like to? Joining our Sunset Survey is the perfect opportunity to get to know your local nocturnal wildlife, including bats! 🦇 Check the link in our bio to sign up and learn more! _______________ Photo credit: Brandt's Bat (right, flying) © Hugh Clark / bats.org.uk Greater Mouse-Eared Bat (hanging) © John Black / bats.org.uk

NEW SCHEDULE 🗓️ We are running a series of our popular workshops over this spring and summer and we would love for you to join us! Click the link in our bio and head to ‘NBMP Workshops’ to find out more. Booking is essential🦇. Discover Your Local Bats is our FREE beginner’s workshop, where you will learn what makes these animals so amazing and how you can find them in your local area. Our Level 1 workshop will introduce you to the National Bat Monitoring Programme and species identification using a bat detector, giving you the skills to take part in our Waterway Survey in August. Using Your Ears will focus on advanced bat species identification, giving you the skills to differentiate between pipistrelles, Daubenton’s bats, noctule and serotine. [Image description: A list of online workshop dates and time offered by the National Bat Monitoring Program. Pictures of two British bat species appear on the left and right side of the list.] #NationalBatMonitoringProgramme #UkBats #Workshop #BatConservationTrust #BatConservation