bats on the river laune, kilarney, co kerry

Photographing bats is very difficult. A late night attempt tonight in whichI  did capture a few fuzzy flying mammels but out often focus and cetainly not of a high standard. Time to get some tips, but maybe not from this guy below.

i believe that these may be Dauberton bats due to a few indicators notably sighting, habitat and i could hear theirhigh pitched squeeks. Here is the lowdown on Irish bats from Bat convervation ireland 

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Bats are mammals. This means that they are covered in fur, they have warm blood, they give birth (rather than laying eggs) and they suckle their babies with milk. There are over 1,000 species of bat worldwide, all in the Order Chiroptera. The greatest diversity of bat species is found in warm equatorial areas where there are fruit-, fish-, insect-, pollen- and even frog-eating types. In Ireland we have nine species confirmed as residents, all of which belong to the bat Sub-order Microchiroptera. All of the Irish bat species consume only insects and the nine residents belong to two Families – the Vespertilionidae (with eight species) and the Rhinolophidae (with one species). Until recently, it was thought that there were seven bat species in Ireland. The Nathusius’ Pipistrelle, a relatively common species throughout the rest of Europe, was discovered breeding in Northern Ireland in 1997. It has also been recorded by detector in the Republic. Around the same time scientists in Britain investigating the Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) discovered that it was actually two different species that have since been named the Common and Soprano Pipistrelle. Both species are found in Ireland. In another new development for Ireland, a Brandt's bat (Myotis brandtii) was discovered in County Wicklow in 2003. It is still unknown, following this first discovery, whether the bat was a vagrant from the UK or Europe, or a resident. No further specimens have been confirmed since 2003. This bat is very similar to the whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus) so it is possible that it has been mistaken for whiskered bats in the past. This brings to 9 the number of bat species confirmed resident in Ireland, with one additional species (Brandt's) possibly resident but unconfirmed.