Bat Boxes, Long Ladders and a Lot of Planning

On Thursday 14 May 2026, FoHC’s bat box project reached an exciting milestone as Joe from Bristol City Council’s ParkWork scheme arrived with a very long ladder and installed 15 new bat boxes around Horfield Common.
 
You might think that it would be a simple task, but it took a lot of careful planning. A few months earlier, we spent two hours of deliberation with the council’s ecologist and the Treeworks officer to identify suitable trees. Bat boxes need to be placed with care.
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The boxes need to sit on good strong branches, at a fork with the trunk, to prevent them from swinging about. They need to be situated between four and six metres from the ground. They must be facing roughly southwards so that the boxes, and therefore bats, are warmed up quickly by the sun in the spring. They can’t be erected over paths, as that could be a hazard if they became dislodged for any reason. Lights and buildings can disturb them, so the boxes must be far enough away from roads as possible.  The boxes must be secured without the use of nails, so as not to damage the trees. Bats need a clear line of flight to the box, which cannot be impeded by other branches.  

​And after all that deliberation and work there is still more to be done. We’re told that it might be a few years before the bats really start using the boxes but initially, they may use them as temporary shelters. The boxes will be monitored through the summer and autumn until the bats hibernate. Then next year the bat boxes will need to be cleaned by a bat specialist ready for the new season.
 
On our regular organised bat walks with Steve England, we will continue to note the species of bat that fly over Horfield Common. On previous walks we have identified Common Pipistrelle, Soprano Pipistrelle and Noctule bats, and hope that more might come now that we have two ponds (well... one and a half at time of writing) attracting the insects that bats like Daubenton's bats love to hunt.

​Is it worth all this effort? Of course. Safe roosting places for bats are becoming harder to find, especially as older buildings are repaired or altered. These boxes give bats more options, while our ponds and habitats help provide the insects they need to feed. These boxes will also help strengthen the wider network of bat-friendly habitats, linking Horfield Common with other known bat sites such as Badock’s Wood and Stoke Park Estate. A small but important step in making Horfield Common and north Bristol in general better for wildlife.

Find out more about bats.. book onto our September bat walk here:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/autumnal-bat-walk-preparing-for-winter-at-horfield-common-tickets-1985647492101?aff=erelexpmlt