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Identification was confirmed where necessary by recording bat calls onto minidisk or digital Edirol R-01 recorders and analysing the calls using BatSound software. Further methods of identification included observation of bat flight pattern and behaviour.
2.5 Bat Activity Surveys 2.5.1 Scope of Bat Activity Surveys
Commuting and foraging bats could be impacted by the severance of linear features (for cable route construction) upon which they rely, particularly young bats learning to fly and forage. By surveying the best features for bats (those with trees) and close to potential roost sources we were also most likely to detect any streams of commuting bats heading away from local roosts.
All continuous (non-gappy) linear features crossed by the Onshore Cable Route (and therefore likely to be severed) with trees and within 200 m of known maternity roosts or 200 m of likely roost sources such as woodlands or groups of trees were surveyed.
2.5.2 Automated Bat Activity Surveys
Automated Song Meter 2 (SM2) bat detectors programmed to start recording half an hour before sunset and stop recording half an hour after sunrise were positioned on the linear features. The surveys were carried out between 12th June and 13th July 2012. Each feature was surveyed for a minimum of three nights with the exception of Locations 124 and 29, which were surveyed for two nights due to equipment failure. The bat echolocation calls recorded were analysed using Analook software.
The detectors were deployed by personnel trained and experienced in their usage, including James Pattenden, Rebecca Harris, Gina Whittaker and Paul Barnes. Full details of the locations, dates and weather conditions during the automated activity surveys are presented in Appendix D.
Minimum overnight temperature and overnight weather conditions are taken from http://uk.weather.com/weather/today-Ipswich-UKXX0072 using Ipswich weather station. Recording over three consecutive nights means that at least one night (generally more) of good weather condition was covered at each location. Inclement weather was rare during the survey period, consisting of only a few nights with rain.
2.5.3 Manual Activity Surveys
After the first automated bat activity surveys, those features with 30 or more Myotis or Plecotus passes (groups likely to be most sensitive to habitat gaps) or more than 500