Seven species of bat found along Lichfield Canal thanks to 14-year-old's survey
A survey carried out by a 14-year-old boy has found seven different species of bat living along Lichfield Canal.
Owen Smith, from Lichfield, chose the project as his voluntary subject for the Duke of Edinburgh award and carried out his survey from April to October last year.
Bat boxes, provided by Chase Ecology, have now been installed to provide more roosting habitat along the canal.
The five Woodstone small-chamber boxes hope to persuade the commuting mammals to roost along the canal as they come out of hibernation.
Owen walked a mile with his bat detector each time, usually from 7pm to 10pm, but sometimes later.
He discovered that the most frequent visitor was the Common Pipistrelle, with Myotis, Soprano Pipistrelle, Brown Long-eared, Whiskered, Daubenton's and Noctule also making appearances.
Gary Smith, senior ecologist and Owen's father, said: "A lot of the woodland habitat along the stretch does not offer a massive amount of roosting features.
"Most of the bats recorded seem to come in from the wider environment but using the waterway sections for feeding.
"The point of putting up the boxes is to give them a bit more roosting habitat."
Chase Ecology will come back over the next few years to see if the bat boxes are being used and by which species, and Owen has also offered to lead 7th Lichfield Scout group on bat walks.
