Matt S

Small reddish brown bat being held.
The beginning of September marked the end of the field season for the Illinois Bat Conservation Program (IBCP) as we finished work at our final, northern-most field site.  As fall begins, Illinois bat species begin to prepare for winter migration and/or hibernation and their activity patterns, habitat use, and presence […]

End of Season Update

 in Acoustic Monitoring / Blog Posts / Emergence Counts / Environmental DNA / Mist Netting / Radio Tracking / Roost Evaluations by (updated 2388 days ago)
Over the past month, tens of thousands of bats have migrated back to their summer ranges in Illinois.   As spring temperatures increase and insect prey emerges, habitat in Illinois becomes more favorable for bats. At least six species of Illinois bats are known to migrate. Because cave-roosting bats have ready […]

Bat migration and mortality

 in Blog Posts / Migration by (updated 2552 days ago)
On cold days like today, the bats of Illinois have to use special strategies to survive. While some bat species migrate to warmer habitats for the winter, many bats regularly hibernate in Illinois, and use this period of inactivity to survive the winter. At least six species regularly hibernate in […]

Bat Hibernation in Illinois

 in Blog Posts by (updated 2552 days ago)
After field work in the north and central parts of Illinois, we recently spent two nights mist netting at Paul Wightman Subterranean Nature Preserve, in southwestern Illinois (Monroe County).  A patchwork of forest fragments, restored prairie, and ponds, this property is also the site of the IBCP’s first capture of […]

Indiana bats at Paul Wightman Subterranean Nature Preserve

 in Blog Posts / Mist Netting  tagged Endangered species / Indiana bat / Mist-Netting by (updated 2725 days ago)
The IBCP has finished work at our first mist-netting site, in the southern portion of Kickapoo State Park (Vermilion County, Illinois). Mist-netting is a term used for the method of capturing bats using a large net made up of very fine threads.  These nets have to be extremely inconspicuous because […]

Mist-netting at Kickapoo State Park

 in Blog Posts / Mist Netting by (updated 2790 days ago)
The Illinois Bat Conservation Program field team has finished work at our 4th field site this summer, north of the town of Oblong, IL.  Our field work has focused on collecting data using bat acoustic detectors.  These detectors record the echolocation calls bats use to navigate as they fly and […]

Summer Acoustic Monitoring

 in Acoustic Monitoring / Blog Posts by (updated 2792 days ago)