The Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory (hereafter described in this report as WGLBBO) was awarded a State Wildlife Grant in 2011 (SWG 11- CAT2 -009); we carried out the field work and other activities described below in 2012.

Included in the activities funded and carried out as part of this grant were (a) bat ecology and monitoring workshops, (b) enlisting and training volunteers to do acoustic monitoring for bats, and (c) coordinating a group of paid surveyors doing a set of WDNR ”Batlas” routes.

Bat Ecology Workshops

Bat ecology and monitoring workshops/presentations were organized and presented by Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory staff conservation biologist William Mueller throughout January - September of 2012, at most of eastern Wisconsin’s nature centers, and at an array of other public facilities including community centers and public libraries. Workshops covered topics that included bat species of Wisconsin; general ecology and myths concerning bats; migratory species and hibernating species; status of Wisconsin’s bats, economic and ecological importance of bats; bats as providers of ecological services; how volunteers and citizens can assist in bat conservation; threats to bats including White Nose Syndrome and its spread, and wind power and bats; use of acoustic monitoring technology; providing bat houses, roost surveys by WIDNR, and information regarding the Wisconsin Bat Monitoring Program.

Locations and dates of workshops are given below in Table 1.

Table 1

Location	Dates	Approximate Number of Workshop Attendees
Brillion Nature Center	23 February and 24 May	11 and 13
Ledgeview Nature Center	19 May	4
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary	23 April	15
Woodland Dunes Nature Center	24 January and 23 May	22 and 18
Riveredge Nature Center	22 March	24
Mequon Nature Preserve	11 July	18
Retzer Nature Center	24 April	11
Peninsula State Park Nature Center	22 February and 7 May	35 and 5
Bubolz Nature Preserve	21 February and 2 May	8 and 11
Bong State Recreation Area	21 April	10
Henry Ruess Ice Age Center – KMSF Northern Unit	18 April	12
Hawthorn Hollow (Kenosha)	19 April	17
Harrington Beach SP	23 June	27
Seno Environmental Center (Burlington)	17 May	22
Sanderling Nature Center (Kohler Andrae SP)	27 April	55
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center	9 May	15
Scandinavia Public Library	7 August	23
Waupaca Public Library	12 June	21
Navarino Nature Center	10 May	13
Havenwoods Environmental Center	20 June	6

Paid BATLAS Surveys

Paid surveyors did an extensive subset of WIDNR previously-chosen BATLAS routes (Table 2). We coordinated these surveys with the help of Paul White of WIDNR; (WIDNR personnel and volunteer surveyors also conducted other routes during 2012). One surveyor (Angela Jackson), a UW-Milwaukee graduate student, coordinated her surveys with WGLBBO, her major professor Dr. Glen Fredlund (Director of the Conservation and Environmental Studies Program and the UW-Milwaukee Department of Geography) , along with Dave Redell and Paul White of WIDNR, using the data collected as part of her master’s thesis research at UW-Milwaukee.

Table 2

Date	Location	Survey Type	Surveyor
06/21/12	Rock Lake	Lake	Jackson
06/26/12	Fox Lake	Lake	Keenan
07/30/12	Fox Lake	Lake	Keenan
06/28/12	Sinissippi Lake	Lake	Keenan
07/21/12	Big Cedar Lake	Lake	Keenan
07/26/12	Como Lake	Lake	Jackson
07/10/12	Lac La Belle	Lake	Keenan
06/29/12	Lake Beulah	Lake	Sadler/Keenan
07/31/12	Lake Butte des Morts	Lake	Keenan
07/29/12	Lake Winnebago	Lake	Keenan
07/17/12	Little Lake Butte des Morts	Lake	Keenan
07/14/12	Long Lake	Lake	Keenan
07/12/12	Partridge Lake	Lake	Emerson
07/24/12	Pewaukee Lake	Lake	Keenan
06/30/12	Powers Lake	Lake	Sadler
07/08/12	Powers Lake	Lake	Jackson
07/31/12	Unnamed Lake	Lake	Emerson
07/11/12	White Lake	Lake	Emerson
07/19/12	Crawfish 2	River	Keenan
07/13/12	Illinois/Fox 4	River	Jackson
07/16/12	Illinois/Fox 7	River	Jackson
07/29/12	Rock River 10	River	Emerson
07/09/12	Rock River 6	River	Keenan
07/05/12	Rock River 8	River	Emerson
07/09/12	Wolf River 1	River	Emerson
07/10/12	Wolf River 2	River	Emerson
06/19/12	Seven-mile Lake	Lake	Emerson
06/20/12	WI River7-03	River	Emerson
07/17/12	Big Arbor Vitae Lake	Lake	Emerson
07/18/12	Big Arbor Vitae Lake	Lake	Emerson
07/19/12	Forest Lake	Lake	Emerson
07/24/12	Crescent Lake	Lake	Emerson

Volunteer Surveys

We coordinated, trained and assisted volunteer surveyors in completing a number of acoustic monitoring routes for bats in many southeastern Wisconsin locations. Examples of monitoring route results as mapped by WIDNR from bat acoustic data are given below. 

To understand the maps and their symbols, please see this (abbreviated) legend from the WI Bat Monitoring Program.

“The maps display the route surveyed superimposed on an aerial photograph. Bat encounters along the route are indicated by a symbol that represents the species or group”. These symbols are explained below:

RT2010_16Aug12.pdf404.34 KB

RT2090_30Aug12.pdf499.69 KB

Species & Groups

Within Group Classification

  High Frequency Group (HFG) includes:

 Myotis

 MYLU = Myotis lucifugus [Little brown myotis]

 MYSE = Myotis septentrionalis [Northern long-eared myotis]

 Labo / Pesu

 LABO = Lasiurus borealis [Eastern red bat]

 PESU = Perimyotis {=pipistrellus} subflavus [Eastern pipistrelle]

 Low Frequency Group (LFG) includes:

 LACI = Lasiurus cinereus [Hoary bat]

 Epfu / Lano

 EPFU = Eptesicus fuscus [Big brown bat]

 LANO = Lasionycteris noctivagans [Silver-haired bat]

Notes

• Currently, some species are grouped together to prevent misidentification (e.g. EPFU and LANO, and the Myotis species) due to similarities between calls.
• As additional reference calls / passes from species of known individuals (identified in hand after capture and recorded upon release) are added to the reference library we will further distinguish within each species group.