Experience the night of the bats: Bat Night in Wulsbüttel!

Experience the night of the bats: Bat Night in Wulsbüttel!

On August 15, 2025, the third “Bat Night” will take place in the picturesque Wulsbüttel, in the municipality of Hagen im Bremen, from 8:15 p.m. Organized by the Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND) Unterweser e.V. and the municipality of Hagen, guests can expect an exciting evening about the fascinating bats and their impressive navigation system.

At the Heesen 3 farm, the participants are introduced to the mysterious world of bats by experienced lecturers such as Heiner von Böttecher, Elisabeth Quentin, Katja Seedorf and Wencke Naused. A special highlight of the evening is the use of a bat detector, which records the high-frequency calls of bats and converts them into sounds that humans can hear. These calls, which lie in the frequency range of 20 to 140 kilohertz, are not directly perceptible to us humans because our hearing ability ends at around 16 to 18 kHz. A bat detector consists of a sensitive ultrasonic microphone, an electronic frequency converter and a loudspeaker to make the bat calls audible so that participants can experience the impressive echolocation calls live.

Experience bats up close

Did you know that bats make around ten tracking calls per second when searching? When hunting, this frequency increases to up to 100 calls per second. However, recognizing the different species based on their calls takes some practice. NABU bat experts offer special nocturnal excursions that lead to the best bat hunting grounds, such as ponds and flower-filled meadows in parks. The enjoyable differentiation of Central European bat species is also supported by learning and practice instructions, which include a CD with 94 call examples. This can be ordered from the NABU environmental pyramid to deepen your knowledge of bat identification, supplementing the information from NABU.

Acoustic monitoring for bat protection

Acoustic monitoring has established itself as a standard method for detecting and identifying bats. It is interesting to know that echolocation calls are characteristic of specific species and are not only used for hunting but also include social communication. However, automatic call determination can be prone to errors, which is why manual determination of the call sequences is necessary for meaningful monitoring. The “Acoustic Detection and Sound Analysis” module trains people with previous experience in recording and analyzing bat calls. The presentation covers theoretical content and offers the opportunity to provide your own call sequences for bat protection, as reported by the Bavarian State Institute for the Environment.

Those interested can register by phone on 04746 87 37 or by email at klohs@hagen-cux.de. Take the opportunity and immerse yourself in the mysterious world of bats - maybe you will even see a few flying night owls up close!

If you would like to find out more about this exciting topic, you can also take a look at the following information: The BLV, NABU and Bavarian State Institute for the Environment.