Our experienced ecologists will advise you on the most appropriate type of survey for your needs. For example, you will need a survey if you are renovating a barn or outbuilding. One of our licenced bat specialists will conduct a daytime survey of the structure and make assessments regarding the likelihood of bat or nesting bird presence. Sometimes we will recommend that additional surveys are undertaken at night to inform our understanding of how bats use the building.
Billie (Bryony) Gillett is also a Level 2 Accredited Bat Consultant under Natural England's new licensing scheme, Bat Earned Recognition (BER). Three of our Ecologists are qualified to carry out aerial tree inspections after undertaking a City and Guilds qualification in 2023. This means that we can also carry out any roost inspections on trees in-house.
- Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (bat & bird) to identify signs of bat use. This can include locating droppings, feeding remains or identifying areas where bats could potentially be roosting. This type of survey can be conducted at any time in the year.
- Emergence surveys to identify whether bats are roosting in a particular location. Information such as species identification and roost type will be gathered during this type of survey.
- Night Bat Walkover (NBW) surveys establish how bats are using a site. Surveyors will look for foraging activity, social behaviour, and commuter routes amongst other bat activity. Emergence and walkover surveys can only be conducted when bats are active, from May to October (inclusive).
If a development is going to impact a bat roost you will need a licence from Natural England. At Orbis Ecology we can register your site under Bat Earned Recognition (BER).
Earned Recognition works on the basis of assessing and accrediting a consultant's competence in undertaking survey work and designing effective mitigation so that, by using an accredited consultant, developers can experience a more streamlined licensing process for their scheme or project. Site Registration takes 15 working days and is therefore significantly faster than the previous licensing routes available.
To achieve BER, Billie has been rigorously and extensively assessed by Natural England and has successfully demonstrated her skills and knowledge relating to bats, and in particular to mitigation schemes that she has designed over her career. She is one of only 80 BER Consultants in the country. Bat Earned Recognition has been through two phases of trial and is being adopted as 'Business as Usual' by Natural England.
Orbis Ecology has extensive experience working on bat related projects throughout the Southwest and we pride ourselves on our high standards and pragmatic approach. Recent projects include barn conversions, householder applications (loft conversion etc), large and small scale housing development, projects for utilities and renewables companies, and local government. Please do get in touch to discuss your project.
