Author: Scott Myers
Author Affiliation: LCWC
Journal: Unpublished Report
ABSTRACT: Monitoring of bat calls was discontinued for September and October of 2018.
The Wildlife Acoustics Echometer touch has proven a very useful tool this year. Several driving transect cruises were undertaken as well as a walking tour of Coryell Island during the June through August time period. The total number of echo-location calls detected exceeded 250. Cruising speed during the cruises was limited to 10 to 15 MPH. When a signal was detected, travel was halted to obtain a better signal to noise ratio. Six species of bats were identified by the EMT2 software during the 2018 monitoring period:
Eastern Red
Little Brown
Big Brown
Hoary
Indiana (endangered)
Silver Haired (most recorded)
The bat call recording .wav files obtained were sent to Michael Fishman of Environmental Resource Management for verification of species identification. Mr. Fishman reviewed the recordings free of charge. His assessment in brief is that we do not have Indiana bats in the areas surveyed but Little Browns instead. His assessment is attached in the appendix. Mr. Fishman is also of the opinion that the remaining species identifications are correct. He also made several recommendations for obtaining higher quality recordings in the future.
Wildlife Acoustics does not recommend the Echometer Touch2 for the monitoring of Indiana or Northern Long Ear bats. Meeting the new federal standards for the definitive identification of these two species requires a recommended Song Meter SM4BAT FS Full-Spectrum Ultrasonic Recorder (microphone not included). These units with microphone cost $1000+.