In April 2024, WaCC co-hosted a night walk, through Pooh Corner Bushland Reserve, to search for Microbats, in conjunction with Brisbane Catchment Network and Cubberla-Witton Catchments Network.

Anabat Walkabout detectors were used to record the bat calls, but they also pick up other sounds from swarms of insects. The noise from insects makes it more difficult to pick out the sounds of specific bat species but some species were identified.

The good news is that there is a healthy list of bat species that can be found in the Pooh Corner Bushland Reserve:
• Chalinolobus gouldii – Gould’s wattled bat
• Miniopterus australis – little bent-winged bat
• Miniopterus orianae oceanensis – eastern bent-winged bat
• Saccolaimus flaviventris – yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat

The Anabat Walkabout Detectors are a method of recording bat sounds and is extremely useful to ecological science. In the days following the night walk the bat sounds detected are provided in the form of a screenshot of spectrograms as shown above right, which are generated from a selection of the recordings taken on the night walk. The sounds from the bats are then shown and circled in one of the spectrograms as above.

Jutta from the Cubberla-Witton Catchments Network briefed everyone in preparation for the walk.