The first few days of November 2012 gave us a period of quite hard frost.

The temperature was beg-inning to drop as I set off for an evening walk through a woodland near Huncoat. What I did not expect to see were hundreds of bats.

I thought they would have hibernated by now, but there they were busily feeding on insects and building up their body fats ready for their winter sleep.

I did identify three species which were the noctule, the Pupistralle, which is Britain’s smallest bat and by far the most common, and also a few natterers bats.

This species prefers woodlands and has been described as a tree- based night worker.

Bats are even more efficient fliers than birds and they are mammals and therefore have no feathers. The wings are formed by flaps of skin fastened to their arm bones.

The reason that they do not “crash” in flight is that they have a sound system similar to our own radar, but much more sophisticated.

They use the high-pitched sounds to navigate and to catch the flying insects on which they feed.

Each species of bat has its own frequency and you can buy a machine called a bat detector. This measures the frequency of the bat sounds and each species can be identified.

Of one thing you can be sure is that Mother Nature is a great inventor but this is not all that surprising because she has been working long before Adam was a lad!

Wildlife vantage point

Horton-in-Ribblesdale and Penyghent: One of the joys of being so close to Ribblesdale is that it offers such a wonderful contrast.

Horton, the name of which means a settlement around a muddy field is the haunt of those who love strolling, walking fast, climbing slowly or descending into potholes. This is the place to meet “serious” students of the Three Peaks and on cold brisk mornings the place offers a warm welcome to visitors who haunt the pub or the cafes.

Penyghent, reached along the road between Settle and Ribblehead stands 2,273 feet (692.5 metres) above sea level. My walk was an “upper and downer” and a balance between history and natural history.

First I went up into the mountain itself and was lucky to find what I was looking for. I saw not one but two short eared owls which I think is a sign that they bred successfully on the slopes.

Then I descended towards the church which is well worth a visit. This dates from the reign of Henry I (1100-1135) and was initially controlled by the monks of Jervaulx Abbey in Wensleydale.

In the churchyard still stands the school and at one time the vicar also fulfilled the role of schoolmaster.

My final stroll was alongside the river Ribble close to the old bridge in the village.

Here I enjoyed my autumn birdwatch with fieldfares and redwings dominating.

I also saw a flock of 12 robins which proves that many continental breeders come over to Britain to take advantage of our warmer climate.

I fear it is too late for the ash

Over the years I have visited Australia many times to work with their ecologists.

This week I had a letter from one of these friends who asked me why we do not have laws preventing the import of any living matter.

I am writing back to say they are lucky to be an island isolated from other land masses by thousands of miles. It is a criminal offence to bring anything not native and living into the country including seeds. We cannot do this because although we are an island we are still very close the continent. The infected ash trees were certainly brought in from Europe and in retrospect this should not have happened.

I very much fear that it is now too late and our lovely ash woodlands are in danger.

I do think that our import laws should be looked at. This week I bought a bag of dried meal worms on which to feed my local robins. When I looked at the label it said “Produced in China”. I must admit I do wonder why?