It was just a case of unintended consequences when earlier this year I invested in a bat detector, but did not get around to using it until very recently. This is a small hand-held device, which converts the non-audible ultrasonic calls bats make into a series of clicks, each unique to the particular species. Unfortunately, there is some overlap between the different frequencies and I do not yet have the expertise to separate them with certainty. Now, I am 
used to seeing the odd bat or two and have been aware for a long time that there were at least two species in the garden, one much larger than the other, no doubt attracted by the abundance of food 
around my moth lights.
In early September, as good weather had been forecast, we decided to have one last family BBQ and around 22.00 we remembered my new toy. What happened next stunned us all – Noctule bat, Serotine bat, Barbastelle bat, probable Common Pipistrelle, probable Brown Long-eared bat, Soprano Pipistrelle, and Greater and Lesser Horseshoe bats – dozens of them in clear view feasting on all those poor moths!
The UK only has 18 species of bat and we had recorded 8 on our very first attempt in about half an hour. The next night some Nathusius’s Pipistrelles arrived, although over the following weeks the numbers fell away quite dramatically.
As autumn draws on my thoughts return to birdlife. There have been persistent reports of Red Kite
sightings in this part of Devon. Once extinct in this country, reintroduction programmes has seen the return of this species, which is no longer considered to be endangered. We used to count them as we drove through the “Oxford Gap” on the M40 when visiting my late in-laws in the Midlands from where we then lived in Sussex. Our record was over 100 birds. Another great place we once 
visited was Gigrin Farm in Wales, where they feed the birds every afternoon.
As the end of September loomed we were treated to the sight of hares in the field opposite our house and were privileged to see part of a massive swallow autumn migration. We became aware that swallows were lining up on the wires outside. Slowly the numbers built and then they were spooked. Almost immediately more and more joined them until the sky was black as they hawked around for insects. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone, drifting away to the west prior to their long trip south.
Andrew Vincent was kind enough to share with me a photo he took of a Convolvulus Hawk-moth, taken somewhere near Powderham Castle. This is another huge moth, occasionally seen at the end of summer, when a few will fly over from continental Europe.
Paul Lister, 841696
(The moth photo was taken by Andrew Vincent and the single – unknown – moth by Christine Thair)
