A Magical Bat Night at Coed y Werin
As daylight slowly faded and the woodland settled into darkness, Coed y Werin revealed a completely different world.
More than twenty visitors joined us for an unforgettable evening of discovery, experiencing the woodland not as they know it during the day, but as a thriving landscape alive with nocturnal creatures, mysterious sounds and hidden activity.
This year we introduced something a little different. Each participant was given a glow-stick bracelet, while a few chose to fashion theirs into glowing necklaces. The colourful lights added a touch of fun, but they also served an important purpose. In the darkness they allowed us to keep track of our group, ensuring everyone could be easily identified as we wandered through the woodland together. As the glowing lights gently moved between the trees, they became part of the magic of the evening.
We were fortunate to have uninterrupted time to explore the woodland in perfect conditions. The night was warm, still and rich with insect life – ideal conditions for our woodland’s nocturnal wildlife.
Leading us through this hidden world was Dr Alex Wilson, our ecologist for the evening. With her wealth of knowledge, enthusiasm and remarkable ability to interpret the sounds picked up by our bat detectors, Alex transformed what many would have simply seen as fleeting shadows into an incredible insight into the lives of these remarkable mammals. Every call told a story, and every detection became an opportunity to learn something new.
Throughout the evening we identified an impressive range of bat species:
Each detection brought excitement as visitors watched the bat detectors reveal calls that moments before had been inaudible to us. Looking up into the dark canopy, silhouettes darted effortlessly overhead as bats hunted insects with astonishing precision.
One of the evening’s highlights was discovering that it wasn’t only bats taking to the skies, our moth trap revealed a wonderful diversity of species, each as remarkable as the next. Among those recorded were the striking Black Arches, the beautifully patterned Angle Shades, the wonderfully camouflaged Feathered Thorn and the furry-bodied Fox Moth, alongside many others. Seeing these intricate creatures up close in magnified viewing pots gave everyone a new appreciation of the incredible biodiversity that emerges after sunset.
The abundance of moths and other flying insects also helped explain why the woodland was such a busy place for bats. Every fluttering wing represented an opportunity for these skilled nocturnal hunters, demonstrating the delicate web of life that makes a healthy woodland ecosystem. It was a wonderful reminder that every species, no matter how small, plays its part. But Bat Night is about more than bats.
As darkness deepened, moths, beetles and countless other insects emerged, reminding us that the woodland never truly sleeps. The daytime chorus of birds gives way to a different orchestra, where every rustle, flutter and distant call tells another part of nature’s story. Standing quietly beneath the trees, many of us found ourselves looking upwards more than ever before, appreciating a world that exists every night but is so rarely experienced.
Perhaps the greatest success of the evening wasn’t measured by the number of bat species we recorded, but by the connections that were made.
Old friends caught up, new friendships were formed and conversations flowed easily between people brought together by a shared curiosity and love of nature. We were especially delighted when several visitors offered to become volunteers with Caerphilly Woodlands Trust. There is no greater compliment than someone wanting to help care for the place they have just discovered, and we are excited to welcome them into our growing woodland family.
Events like these remind us why Coed y Werin is so much more than a woodland. It is a place where people reconnect with nature, discover the extraordinary hidden alongside the ordinary, and leave with a deeper appreciation of the wildlife that shares our evenings.
Our sincere thanks go to Dr Alex Wilson for sharing her expertise so generously and helping us reveal the hidden world above our heads. His passion for bats and woodland ecology made the evening both fascinating and inspiring.
As the last glow-stick lights disappeared down the path and the woodland returned to darkness, the bats continued their nightly patrol, blissfully unaware that they had inspired more than twenty people to look at the night sky in an entirely new way.
Coed y Werin reminds us that conservation isn’t just about protecting wildlife; it’s about creating opportunities for people to experience wonder. Because once someone has stood beneath a summer sky listening to bats hunting overhead, they rarely see the woodland in quite the same way again.
Until next time, we’ll leave the woodland to its night shift.
This years calendar of events is delivered by Caerphilly Woodlands Trust with the support of Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Countryside Service and the Gwent Green Grid Partnership.
This project is funded by the Local Places for Nature scheme. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with the Welsh Government
Ariennir y prosiect yma gan y cynllun Lleoedd Lleol ar gyfer Natur. Mae’n cael ei ddarparu gan Gronfa Treftadaeth y Loteri Genedlaethol mewn partneriaeth â Llywodraeth Cymru
