In 2025 we warmly welcome Esther Paton as our new Assistant Ecologist. With a background in data analysis, mapping and writing scientific reports Esther will be engaged in our range of ecological surveys, including botanical and UK habitat surveys. She will also be producing GIS habitat maps for BNG purposes. In other Wild Service team news Elizabeth Pimley has been certified to act as an auditor for the Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark standard that certifies the management of business sites […]

Natural England have granted an extension (Annex D) to Elizabeth’s Bat Mitigation Class Licence to include day and transitional roosts of low numbers of lesser horseshoe bats in addition to other bat species for which the licence can be used (i,e, small numbers of common/soprano pipistrelle, brown long-eared, Natterer’s, Brandt’s, Daubenton’s). This will speed up the licensing process for projects involving lesser horseshoe roosts of relatively low conservation status located in the southwest of England.

A radiotracking study on Bechstein’s bats was undertaken at Worcestershire Wildlife Trust’s reserve to assess the impacts of woodland management on these rare bats. A full article by Elizabeth Pimley, Eric Palmer, Giles Sutton, Nick Downs & Johnny Birks can be found in the Mammal Society’s ‘Mammal News’ Summer 2018 Issue 181.  We provide a summary and reference list below. Summary Grafton Wood Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near Grafton Flyford, Worcestershire is an ancient semi-natural broad-leaved […]

Bat survey season has started and runs until September. Bats are highly protected and threatened by development and as a result, any works or planning consent where bats may be impacted must be evaluated by a suitably qualified ecologist. Our Natural England licensed bat ecologists will typically conduct an initial building or tree assessment to assess the potential for bats to be using the site. Follow-up surveys may be necessary to determine the nature of the use of the site […]