Hampshire Bat Group is a registered charity made up of volunteer members. 

As a partner group to the Bat Conservation Trust, we aim to promote and support bat conservation in Hampshire and to raise public awareness about these fascinating animals.  Bats need our help because they face many threats, including from loss of habitat, loss of roost sites, light pollution and decline in the abundance of nocturnal insects.

Please note that, as a matter of policy, Hampshire Bat Group does not undertake surveys for commercial purposes or to make formal objections to planning applications.

Have you discovered a sick or injured bat?

For Bat Care and Rescue, phone Hampshire Bat Group carers on 07760 504257. If there is no answer, please leave a voicemail or a text message, giving us your name, area and phone number.

The Bat Conservation Trust helpline 0345 1300 228 is also available. Please see our 'What we do' page for further information.

Bats in your home?

See the website of the Bat Conservation Trust for information on the law and sources of advice.

Our meetings

We are looking forward to welcoming our members and guests to the meetings in our 2026/27 season, which will commence with meetings on Thursdays 22nd of October and 26th November 2026.

Our 2025/6 season of indoor meeting has now ended.

The first meeting was on Thursday 23rd October 2025, when Carole and George Baber told us about "An African Bat Project'.

On Thursday 27th November. Kelly Metcalfe gave us an account of her bat surveying in Saudi Arabia. Then Stephen Johnson told us about commuting barbastelles in his area of West Sussex, part of his extensive static detector monitoring.

Thursday 26th February 2026. Colleen Hope described 'Radio Tracking Greater Horseshoe Bats in the Avon Valley'. Starting with an overview of our records of this species in Hampshire, Colleen described the radio tracking project we carried out in Spring 2025 and the follow up work carried out since then. She reviewed what we know about the status of the species in this part of the country, leading on to the opportunities for getting greater horseshoes back as a breeding species in Hampshire.

Thursday 26th March 2026. Kelly Metcalfe gave us a presentation about the barbastelle bat capture and radio tracking surveys she led at Mottisfont during 2025.

Thursday 30th April 2026. Our Chairman, Nik Knight, described the ambitious projects that the Hampshire Bat Group has tackled over the years and those underway at present.  This meeting also included our Annual General Meeting, with reports on the past year's activities and our committee election.

Our meetings are all at the Swanwick Lakes Study Centre, Sopwith Way, SO31 7AY.  Meetings start at 7.30pm.  We aim to open the doors for refreshments and chat by 7pm.

Contacts

For non-urgent bat care enquiries, please email us at batcarehantsbats(at)gmail.com

For general enquiries, to contribute records or to request bat distribution data searches, contact our Chair and County Recorder - Nik Knight - recordshantsbats(at)gmail.com

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