BatNight 2025
Mid Macquarie Landcare invites the community to learn more about the creatures of the night.
Capacity building - LEP23-005_MMLLC
The issue
The DCCEEW Bats in Backyards program wanted to know more about bats in our region and were struggling to get individual landholders to sign up to their citizen science program. Mid Macquarie Landcare have been helping out for the last 3 years by encouraging local landholders, schools, businesses and backyard-owners to install and host a Bats in Backyards audio moth recorder.
We wanted to let people know what cool species of microbat are flapping about the region, why the Dubbo & Wellington is an important area for microbats and how they can get involved to help protect these species in the environment.
The solution
BatNight Returns!
On the back of the success of our 2024 BatNight at Wellington Caves, in 2025 we migrated to Dubbo with the sold out BatNight event hosted by the lovely Lazy River Winery on the banks of the Macquarie River.
Our second event saw 90 community members come out to celebrate Halloween and all things batty. The evening offered:
- Presentations from Anna Lloyd from the Bats in the Backyards (BIB) team
- Research findings on the ecosystem services microbats provide as insectivores to farmers with UNE Lecturer and Research Scientist, Heidi Kolkert
- Kids activities with Rebecca Pedemont from the Wellington Caves, and
- Bat Walks along the river checking harp traps for microbats and spotlighting for other nocturnal critters.
The impact
Mid Macquarie Landcare has:
- helped more than 30 landholders across Dubbo and Wellington participate in the BIB citizen science program annually, recording more than 14 species including 5 threatened species
- hosted 140 community members at BatNight events, to learn more about our local microbat species and how to protect them
- run extension programs in 4 schools, busting myths about microbats with more than 300 students
- sold more than 150 Microbats of the Dubbo & Wellington region tea towels
- partnered with DCCEEW to in an ongoing research program to find out more about when migrating microbats are travelling into and out of our region.