Norfolk Bat Survey

The Norfolk Bat Survey is not running in 2023.

The Norfolk Bat Survey wants your help! We are conducting bat surveys across the whole of Norfolk, by providing an opportunity for anyone to take advantage of recent advances in technology for automating the capture and analysis of acoustic data for bats.

To achieve this, we have set up a number of Bat Monitoring Centres across the county, from which you can borrow equipment for a few days to take part in the survey. In return we will let you know what species were recorded. The survey season this year runs from June until the end of September, so plenty of time to take part.

We are limited by the number of detectors, so if you are interested you need to be quick in expressing interest and reserving your 1-km square  to survey. Once you have reserved a square, you will be able to reserve a  detector to use.

Please note that this survey requires three different points (ideally at least 200-metres apart) to be surveyed ideally on consecutive nights within a 1-km square (survey methods). To choose a survey square please go to the sign up map.


The Norfolk Bat Survey was launched by the British Trust for Ornithology in April 2013, to improve our understanding of bats and support their conservation. Since this time, the project has analysed over 1.9 million bat recordings from across the county.

If you have any queries about the project or equipment, please contact Hazel Evans or Stuart Newson at BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU, Tel: 01842 750050, Email: norfolkbatsurvey@bto.org