Ultra sonic mics for Bat detection and speciation

[matthew]

Unsure if I should put this in here or where the wild things are. Mods feel free to move if appropriate.
                                                                                                                                             

My sister has identified bats roosting in the roof of an old extension on their house. This was suspected and accommodated when they installed external insulation, but only recently confirmed.

My niece and nephew are excited by this and I thought it would be interesting to see if they can listen to them and potentially identify the species. Therefore can anyone recommend an appropriate microphone or device to detect, listen to and identify the species. This should ideally be at the amateur / hobbyist end of the price range.

Thank you

[fuaran]

Usual option for beginners is a Magenta Bat 4 or Bat 5. Available for about £60.
It has a dial you can twiddle, to figure out what frequency the bats are calling at. So that gives you an idea for identification.

You can get USB ultrasonic mics to plug in to a phone or PC etc. Allows you to record them, or show sonograms, or identify the bats automatically. But they are all a lot more expensive, from £200 up.

[Mrs Pingu]

All of which can be seen here
https://www.nhbs.com/1?q=&hPP=60&idx=titles&p=0&fR%5Bhide%5D%5B0%5D=false&fR%5Blive%5D%5B0%5D=true&fR%5Bshops.id%5D%5B0%5D=1&fR%5Bshops.id%5D%5B1%5D=1&fR%5Bsubsidiaries%5D%5B0%5D=1&hFR%5Bsubjects_equipment.lvl1%5D%5B0%5D=Bat%20Survey%20%26%20Monitoring%20%3E%20Bat%20Detectors

The red one that plugs into a mobile was on Springwatch previously, looked like a pretty cool gadget but not cheap.

[leeg]

To keep my son occupied I've got him making a bat detector for me today, using this site https://www.nutsvolts.com/?/magazine/article/june2011_berber .  I think it'll cost <£30 in parts.  I'll post back if it works well.

[aidan.f]

Having read the docs I think it will work well enough.

[Jaded]

All of which can be seen here
https://www.nhbs.com/1?q=&hPP=60&idx=titles&p=0&fR%5Bhide%5D%5B0%5D=false&fR%5Blive%5D%5B0%5D=true&fR%5Bshops.id%5D%5B0%5D=1&fR%5Bshops.id%5D%5B1%5D=1&fR%5Bsubsidiaries%5D%5B0%5D=1&hFR%5Bsubjects_equipment.lvl1%5D%5B0%5D=Bat%20Survey%20%26%20Monitoring%20%3E%20Bat%20Detectors

The red one that plugs into a mobile was on Springwatch previously, looked like a pretty cool gadget but not cheap.

This naughty forum made me buy one of the red ones.

It is quite fun, recordings, with expanded waveforms, sounds slowed down so humans can hear them, time and date and GPS logging, and most importantly, identification of the bats.

So far I have seen/identified Common and Sporano Pipistrelles, in two quite far apart parts of the country. 

[Mrs Pingu]

Good xmas present for someone so inclined then?

[HeltorChasca]

Always wanted one. Good post so thanks for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jaded]

Good xmas present for someone so inclined then?

Yup!