Iberianature » bats http://www.iberianature.com/spainblog A guide to Spain: environment, geography, nature, landscape, climate, culture, history, rural tourism and travel Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:57:14 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Schreiber’s bats in Soria http://www.iberianature.com/spainblog/2008/09/schreibers-bats-in-soria/ http://www.iberianature.com/spainblog/2008/09/schreibers-bats-in-soria/#comments Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:40:01 +0000 nick http://www.iberianature.com/spainblog/?p=649

Iberianatureforum member Alfredo recently sent me this rather spendid photo of a pair of Schreiber’s bats (Miniopterus schreibersi – murciélago de cueva) roosting in a cave. Apologies to him for the delay in posting this. He notes “One of our guests sent me a photo they took whilst walking through a small gorge on the way to the Canyon Rio Lobos Natural Park. They entered one of the many limestone caves throughout this area and came across a few bats….the long fingers are a give away for the species.  ” The photo was taken by Dulana Herath who has kindly allowed me to publish it here. Click on Dulana’s photo to see the bats in all their glory.

Alfredo also runs Spanishfootsteps which offers a range of expert walking and driven guided tours in Soria, one of the least known and fascinating parts of Iberia.

]]> http://www.iberianature.com/spainblog/2008/09/schreibers-bats-in-soria/feed/ 0 Largest Bechstein’s Bat colony discovered http://www.iberianature.com/spainblog/2007/02/17/ http://www.iberianature.com/spainblog/2007/02/17/#comments Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:07:39 +0000 nick http://spainblog.iberianature.com/?p=17 The largest colony of the endangered Bechstein’s Bat (Myotis bechsteini – murciélago ratonero forestal) in the Iberian Peninsula has been discovered in the Alta Garrotxa in Catalonia by Xavier Puig of the wildlife research group Galanthus, as part of a bat census together with the Museum of Granollers. The colony is formed by 24 individuals and is the first non-fossil citing for Catalonia. These bats, probably the rarest species in Europe, live in mature forests with old trees with plenty of nooks and crannies for shelter. They will also nest in cracks in rocks and even old buildings. They have a penchant for taking non-flying invertebrates (spiders, centipedes, caterpillars, etc) on the ground, or vegetation, swooping upon them with their slow, low-flying ponderous but agile flight, though they’ll also snap up insects from the air. Fossil evidence suggests that 5000 years ago Bechstein’s bat was one of the commonest species in Europe, thriving in the continent’s old mature woods, but the historic destruction of forests has led them to their current plight. Photo of Bechstein’s bat by Xavier Puig. See also Bats in Spain

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