S3E31 This week Steve is on the Tortworth Estate in south Gloucestershire with Jim Mullholland. They're joined by a voluntary team of arborists who are assisting Jim with his 5 year project to create natural tree features for Bechstein's and barbastelle bats. By using chainsaws to create different crevices and cavities within living trees, the team hope that they will be taken up by colonies of the two bat species which are present in the woodland Steve is visiting today in this episode. The episode starts on a sunny spring day in an ancient woodland with chiffchaff singing in the canopy overhead. As the episode moves down to where the team are working for the day there's more background noise than you're used to on BatChat because the woodland is right next to the M5 motorway.  

• Jim Mullholland is on twitter and Instagram
• Jim has a YouTube channel with a number of videos of bats inside tree roosts.
• The Tortworth Estate opens to the public on certain days of the year. Find out more here.
• Listen to our other episodes on veteranisation with Jim and Vicky Bengtsson
• A guide to veteranisation techniques is at this link.

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Producer: Steve Roe @SteveRoeBatMan
Cover Art: Rachel Hudson http://rachelhudsonillustration.com/

This week it’s the world famous RHS Chelsea Flower show and for the first time ever, the Bat Conservation Trust have a show garden there. The nocturnal garden demonstrates how you can create a beautiful, wildlife-friendly garden that supports bats and other nocturnal species. Discover our tips on how to garden for bats and keep an eye out for the nocturnal garden on the BBC coverage all this week.

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Bats are magical but misunderstood. At BCT our vision is a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Action to protect & conserve bats is having a positive impact on bat populations in the UK. We would not be able to continue our work to protect bats & their habitats without your contribution so if you can please donate. We need your support now more than ever: www.bats.org.uk/donate  Thank you!