It's now August and almost 50 records of Noctules (or Nyctalus sp.) have been submitted, from all across the Borders, from Chirnside in the east to Neidpath in the west and as far south as Kelso and Yetholm. A couple of records from the Gorebridge area bring them into Lothians too: I spent an evening watching a Soprano Pipistrelle roost there, listening to almost contant Noctule calls from the adjacent field.

I haven't been able to do as many car surveys as I had hoped, but those that I have done have been supplemented by many other records from around the region. Using an Anabat SD1 for the car surveys has created large numbers of incidental records of other bat species (the record is 250 in one evening), which will be submitted to local record centres in due course.

Particular hot spots where Noctules appear to be regularly heard/ seen are:

• The Dryburgh Suspension Bridge, Newtown St Boswells
• The area around Caddonfoot in the Tweed Valley
• Yetholm Loch
• Mellerstain House, Gordon
• The area around Coldstream, including the Hirsel