We have been getting summer weather almost continuously for the past month. For instance, this afternoon it was 27 degrees centigrade (80 degrees F) in the garden. We have been making the most of the garden and enjoy being able to have lunch outside – even if we may need a jacket.
Today was, in fact, too hot without sitting under a parasol, but the parasol had been requisitioned as a day-time roosting spot for a bat (Pipistrelle, I think.)
We have had a Pipistrelle roosting through the winter behind the shutters of the window facing the garden. He disdained the bat box Kourosh had made mounted on the wall.
Kourosh noticed that the gap he squeezed into behind the shutters was narrower than the gap recommended for the bat box. So he made a custom-sized box specially for him and placed it slightly to the side of where he roosted. Still he preferred the shutter.
So our choice today was to move under the apricot tree for shade. We do try to give nature a home but sometimes I think they can push their luck.
a french garden 
That’s a cheeky bat. Lucky you, D
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I love him really, I just wish he’d choose the bat box. Amelia
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I am a huge bat fan….. wait, I’m not huge, my fanship is huge. I have bat houses but don’t know if any bats use them, because I would have to be outside at just the right time and watching ….. They do love shutters. At my house in the Herault I had them under my shutters, I could tell by their droppings. Which by the way you probably know how to identify their droppings, but if not ask me. Friends have also had maternal colonies under their shutters. At the Herault house, which is in the Parc Regionale du Haut Languedoc, bats sometimes came in at night and flew around the bedroom. At one time I had 6 of them for 45 minutes in my converted grenier bedroom, not sure what they were but for sure not pipistrelles, they were larger. I felt I was quite honored.
bonnie in provence
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I love them too. I can see the attraction of shutters for hiding but not from wind or rain. Thus saying, I suppose the roof keeps that part of the wall drier. I do know the droppings but they can be very easy to miss for a single bat on top of earth or rubbish. Have you heard of them using bat boxes in your area? Amelia
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My shutters folded up into the protected space inside the wall of the house. They did not fold back onto the exterior house wall, but instead folded in half to fit inside the profile of the wall itself. Very protected. That being said, I also know people with the other shutters that fold against the wall that had bat colonies living behind the shutters.
bonnie in provence
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Perhaps it’s the fresh air through the louvres that the bats like. Also, It may give then a sense of security with access to lots of ‘quick getways’. Could Kouosh try louvres on a bat box?
Here in Australia I get bats in the garden when the Bluegums are flowering. They are huge, smelly, dirty, noisy and keep us awake all night. They also defoliate the trees. This such a big problem that the Botanical Gardens move them on, even thought they are a protected species.
We also get micro bats, ultra tiny even compared to your charming little fellow.
Enjoy your lovely garden, thanks for posting.
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Zut! Great theory, but French shutters are made of solid planks of wood :). I have seen photographs of the Flying Foxes in the Botanical Gardens in Sydney. I thought they were great and would have liked them hanging in my garden. I did not consider any down side though :). Amelia
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Ha! Well, I have to spend a lot of time in another city and my employer rents me an apartment there. I once found a small bat hiding – I swear – under a coffee cup in the kitchen sink. Once discovered, it launched itself and started flying around and around. I tried to shoo it out the window with a spatula. It did not end well.
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You broke the cup? Amelia
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I believe they use bat boxes in this area, but I haven’t seen it myself. They will use the boxes if other roosts are not available. This evening I was outside at “bat time” and didn’t see any, they may not be out of hiberation yet. I my old village in the Herault there was a wonderful evening time when the swallows and martins were still out and the bats were emerging, so you had both at the same time.
bonnie in provence
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The bats are out here. We see them flying around the garden in the evening. Amelia
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How nice to see a bat so close up. I find them fascinating but I rarely see them.
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He is really cute! He is coming back each morning so we still cannot use our parasol. Amelia
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If he is a she, you might not use that parasol all summer. But generally the maternal colonies are more than one bat. If you start getting more residents get ready for the baby shower under your parasol.
bonnie in provence
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Love the idea of a baby shower under a parasol! We get a lot of single bats hanging around here so I think the breeding colonies are elsewhere. We are in a limestone area so maybe they have a nice dry cave hidden away somewhere.
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