Beast spotting at Hortus Haren to highlight importance of nature

On May 22, World Biodiversity Day, we organized several activities in the Hortus. Additional public tours at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and between noon and 2 p.m. a count of insects, butterflies, beetles and other small critters. OogTV made a brief report. And in the evening there was a bat excursion, with guides from the Bat Working Group Groningen, and equipped with bar detectors. Four species were seen and heard with the bat detector: the ruddy bat, the common dwarf bat, the moulted dwarf bat and the late-bird bat. By setting the bar detectors to different sound frequencies, the bats, each making ultrasonic sounds at its own “height,” can be distinguished.