Educational bat trapping & call ID workshops
Practical 3-day field workshops for ecological consultants, students, researchers and anyone else wanting to build confidence in harp trapping, bat retrieval and release, in-hand identification, echolocation reference call collection, and bat call analysis.
Two workshops are planned for February 2027, each focused on a different NSW bat assemblage and habitat type.
See the workshop flyers below for a quick overview, then scroll down for further details about the course format, inclusions and registration.
Places will be limited to 10 attendees per workshop. Tickets will be available from 1st November 2026 to 24th December 2026.
About the workshops
Flyway Ecology is planning two bat trapping and call ID training workshops in February 2027. These workshops are designed for ecological consultants, government ecologists, students, researchers and anyone else who wants to improve their confidence with live bat survey methods and acoustic identification workflows.
Each workshop will combine field-based trapping, bat retrieval and release, in-hand identification demonstrations, echolocation reference call collection, and indoor bat call analysis using Anabat Insight and custom local decision trees.
The workshops are intentionally limited to a maximum of 10 attendees to allow a more personalised training experience. Indoor call analysis sessions will be run as a full group, while field components such as harp trap checks will be split into smaller groups to allow more direct guidance.
Chichester workshop — 24–26 February 2027
The Chichester workshop will focus on wet-forest bat assemblages, including fishing bats (Southern Myotis).
Specific to this workshop, training will include active acoustic monitoring techniques for Southern Myotis, harp trap placement in wet forest and creekline environments, and call analysis for local forest bat species. All other skills listed below will also be covered.
Likely capture species include: Myotis macropus, Micronomus norfolkensis, Scoteanax rueppellii, Vespadelus pumilus, Vespadelus darlingtoni and others.
Accommodation will be at Wangat Lodge.
Pilliga workshop — 2–4 February 2027
The Pilliga workshop will focus on semi-arid woodland and cave-roosting bats. This workshop is particularly suited to ecological consultants working on threatened cave-roosting bat surveys, including surveys where assessment of potential maternity roosts may be required.
Specific to this workshop, training will include training in maternity-roost cave identification and signs of current or historical bat use, including cave-floor guano, urine staining, roosting locations, cave structure and bat fly shells. All other skills listed below will also be covered.
Likely capture species include: Chalinolobus dwyeri, Vespadelus troughtoni, Nyctophilus corbeni, Ozimops petersi, Scotorepens balstoni and others.
Accommodation will be at Pilliga Pottery.
Take-home materials
Attendees will receive practical take-home materials to support future field surveys and call analysis, including:
echolocation reference calls for local species covered in the workshop
a physical workbook covering identification of the local bat species likely to be encountered
an Anabat Insight decision tree for semi-automated analysis of local bat calls
supporting field and call-analysis resources
Skills covered
Across both workshops, attendees will learn about:
harp trap deployment and pack-down
bat retrieval and release
in-hand bat identification using external morphology
recognising age, reproductive condition and key identification features
echolocation reference call collection
detector placement and active acoustic survey methods
bat call analysis using Anabat Insight
use of custom local decision trees for call identification
strengths, limitations and uncertainty in bat survey methods
Bat handling and vaccination requirement
Any participant involvement in bat handling or supervised bat release will be limited to attendees who have evidence of appropriate bat lyssavirus/rabies vaccination. Attendees who are not vaccinated can still participate in the workshop, observe in-hand identification demonstrations, participate in call analysis and field survey activities, and learn bat retrieval and release procedures through demonstration.
Final handling arrangements will depend on animal ethics, licensing and safety requirements.