The forthcoming Anabat Chorus - first impressions

Fifteen years ago, if you wanted to do passive monitoring of bats you had three options - the proven and dependable sandwich-box-shrouded Anabat SD1, with it's ZC recording system (seems clunky now, but was heaven-sent in those days of memory-deprivation and snail-like computers) or the Songmeter SM2 from the then new kids on the block, Wildlife Acoustics. Option three was to cobble up some kind of half-baked system with a basic detector plugged into a dictaphone and plenty of us dabbled with that sort of thing! Today  however, the marketplace is full of options and new models keep trickling onto the market.

Wildlife Acoustics recently launched the Songmeter Mini and I'll say more about that in another post, but there is a clear move towards lower-cost passive monitoring machines, possibly in response to the development of the incredibly low-cost Audiomoth. When you can buy a passive detector for thirty quid (extra for the polythene bag to hang it in!) then £1300 or more seems excessive. However, for professional work the Audiomoth seems an uncertain option, with too much geekery involved. Though that will probably change in time, it creates an opening for the manufacturers to slide in new mid-range passive detectors, drawing on their experience and reliability. 

The new Anabat Chorus

Andrew Dobson of Titley Scientific was kind enough to lend me a beta model of their forthcoming new machine, the Anabat Chorus. I've long been quite keen on Anabat equipment - it's not perfect (what is?), but Titley tend to listen carefully to customers and build on what they learn from each model. The Chorus is a good example. At first sight the case looks similar to the Swift and Express models, both of which are a pig to open, as the latches are incredibly tight - a necessity, to seal the case against moisture ingress. The solution is rather elegant - a large lever-type arrangement applies one of those first physics lessons we learned at school and makes opening and sealing the case much easier. There are also pierced flanges top and bottom, increasing the options for attaching the case to a substrate, especially useful for longer-term installations.

Inside the case, at first sight it seems similar to the Swift and has most of the functionality, but instead of the sexy (and costly) touch-screen, the screen is more basic, with up/down/left/right buttons. The battery case takes four AA batteries, but with Eneloops (the rechargeables of the gods), that should give many weeks of recording, in fact Titley claim 40 nights is possible. And they've retained the easily accessible back-up battery, so you can change it yourself when needed. As with most equipment nowadays, GPS is built-in, ensuring that that accurate sunset and sunset times can be depended on. There's also a temperature sensor, though personally, I rarely trust the data from in-built sensors. The detector is not always in the best location to get sensible data, so I tend to use a separate temperature datalogger in a shady spot nearby.

The interior of the machine and the controls - essentially a budget version of the Swift controls, but without losing anything vital that I could find

Rear view, showing the pierced mounting flanges and the lever arrangement, for opening the case with breaking a finger

In use, I found it to function exactly as expected, with similar funtionality to the Swift, using the control panel to select simpler timing options or a new software package to allow custom settings. As with the Swift, you can record ultrasound as .zc or.wav. There was a little distortion in the recordings, though this was probably due to reflections off the case. You can't use an extension lead with the microphone, as with the Swift, but Dean Thompson from Titley advises that there'll be an optional goose-neck extension to move it away from the case and reduce this effect. 

The optional microphone gooseneck

(photo copyright Titley Scientific)

I'm happy to say that they have retained that wonderfully simple crowd-pleaser, the little magnet on a string. This allows you to check the machine is functioning properly once it's in position - rarely essential, but massively reassuring before you walk away, trusting that when you return in three weeks time the detector will have recorded as expected.

Considering that the Chorus will retail at £595 +VAT I was a bit bemused as to where the savings had been made, by comparison to the rather pricey Swift (currently £1194 + VAT from NHBS).  According to Dean, the main differences are:

• You can't use an extension mic lead (the gooseneck will cost extra)
• The machine can only use 4 AA batteries, unlike the choice of 4 or 8 with the Swift.
• It only has one memory card slot, instead of two (but with the massive capacity cards now available, that's hardly a problem).
• You can only record from one microphone at a time.

What's this I hear you ask? "One of two microphones"? The Chorus has an acoustic microphone as well as an ultrasonic one, giving you the chance to record birds, frogs, crickets or whatever else takes your fancy (for £200 less you;ll be able to get one with just the acoustic mic). It has the same ultrasonic microphone element as the Swift (though they're not interchangeable). 

One concern I have is that the microphones seem quite vulnerable, as they are attached to mouldings on the case. The Swift and Express come with excellent protective carry-cases, but apparently that won't be the case for the Swift, so I think a protective case to store and transport it will be an essential extra.

In this view you can see the two microphones, ultrasonic on the left, acoustic on the right.

Overall I was quite impressed with what we'll get for the price-point. I was also impressed that most of what has been removed to get the price down is unlikely to be missed much and that Titley have taken the opportunity to add some simple enhancements that improve the package. It's disappointing that the gooseneck microphone mount will be an additional cost over the basic price, but they are going to have Wildlife Acoustic's Songmeter Mini to compete with and I reckon that will be a fair fight. 

The machine I was trying out was a beta model, so the final product may be slightly different. And if you want a seriously techie appraisal you'll need to look elsewhere - my musings here are for those of us who want to actually use the machine, rather than devour the specifications! But if that floats your boat you can find the full specification on Titley's website: Anabat Chorus

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PS - the photos above show a foam sock on the ultrasonic mic, but it belongs on the acoustic mic (when I tested it, it was on the correct mic!)

Field skills for early career ecologists

Every spring and early summer we receive a flow of emails and CVs from students and recent graduates, looking for ways to get a foothold in professional ecology. We have around 30 seasonal field ecologists working with us, but for everyone we hire, another half a dozen are disappointed. By early summer we see the more desperate emails, offering to work for nothing, just for the experience. 

This is of course a result of the profusion of ecology courses which spit out lots of shiny new BSc's with plenty of theoretical knowledge, but lack the field skills which would equip them for the world of professional ecology. The standard advice that seems to be proffered is "volunteer with local consultancies and with volunteer groups". It's excellent advice, except that consultancies should pay for your time, even if you're still developing your skills. Volunteer groups do what they can, but the increasing flood of demand outstrips the opportunities. 

This year, after a long period when Covid meant the only opportunities were on-line workshops (some of which were desperately insubstantial), I suspect that the demand will be even greater than ever. If you can afford to attend some of the better courses available (Field studies council, Batability etc) so much the good, but what if, loaded down with student debt or with a limited income, you simply can't afford that?

Here are my three suggestions for some self-directed, low-cost ways you can build up useful field skills this summer and make yourself attractive to potential employers.

 

1. Get your hands on a botanical field guide. Borrow it, steal it, but preferably buy it. Top of the list is the Francis Rose Wild Flower key. This is the most-used botanical key and balances ease of use (and pictures) with a professional standard of identification. Don't expect to pick it up and just use it - you'll need to spend some time studying how it's laid out. It includes plenty of advice on how to use it and an excellent glossary of terms. You'll also need a x10 hand-lens, often sold on eBay as a 'jeweller's loupe' for not a lot of money. 

Next get on your bike (or bus, car, scooter, souped-up wheelie-bin, or whatever is your transport of choice) and start visiting nature reserves, river-banks, woodlands, hedgerows etc - as wide a range of habitats as you can. At each site, aim to spend several hours simply trying to identify all the plants you find. Initially, this will frustrate you, but keep at it and you will gradually build up a knowledge of common wild flowers - an essential skill for any ecologist. 

It's a good idea to carry a hard-backed notebook and write a site species list on every visit. The species you find will, of course, change through the season, so keep going back. If you write out both the scientific name and common name for each species, each time you see it you will start to fix the scientific names in your head. It's also worth recording three or four bullet-points about each species, recording the key reasons you're able to identify it - this will force you to think critically about identification characteristics. 

Just as importantly, record everything you can't identify. Take photographs. Work out why you can't identify it - what's the blockage. Then when you get home you can search for the answer - there are lots of on-line resources to plunder!

2. Get a bat detector and learn to use it. A simple Magenta heterodyne machine will cost around £80, but if you can borrow one, so much the better. Don't think that you have to have a professional grade machine to learn the skills - you don't.

The National bat monitoring programme has lots of free resources and workshops to help you learn basic bat call ID skills. Get into the habit of going out in the evening in as many places as possible (be aware of your personal safety!) and finding out what bat species are about. What are they doing? Are there feeding buzzes or social calls? What visual behaviour is apparent? Consider everything you hear or see critically.

Apart from being enjoyable, being able to identify bat calls easily and rapidly is a core skill for anyone applying for work with an ecological consultancy. You can further develop these skills (and impress potential employers) by taking part in the National bat monitoring programme - doing field or waterway surveys near where you live and contributing to our understanding of bat population change. What are you waiting for?

 

3. Get a good bird guide (there are loads) and a pair of binoculars (good ones if possible, but a cheapie pair from Aldi is better than nothing). As with botany, get out and about, visiting different habitats and trying to identify everything you see. Keep notes on what you identify and niggle away at what you can't, trying to iron out those blockages.

There are many on-line resources and social media specialist groups, which can be a great help. Experts who don't have time to devote lots of time to helping you are often happy to spend a couple of minutes on Facebook or Twitter, correcting your identification or pointing you in the right direction when you can't separate two 'little brown birds' or all sedges look the same.

I could go on, but of course this approach works with almost any species group. I've just started moth-trapping and this is precisely how I'm learning (slowly!) to identify some of the many hundreds of moth species. 

Back in the 1980s a Tory minister was ridiculed for suggesting some of the 3 million unemployed 'get on their bikes and look for work'. Ill-conceived though that comment was, making your own opportunities often works. As an employer, I can tell you I will pay more attention to an applicant who tells me they bought some field guides, ransacked the internet and tried to build their skills than one who learned their skills on a course. The latter will have learned some valuable field skills, but the former has also displayed resourcefulness and energy - qualities all employers value.

So, if the help you need isn't available, don't despair. Have confidence in yourself and get on your bike (or souped-up wheelie-bin) and have a go. Take a friend (forcibly if necessary - it'll do them good). You'll be amazed what you learn and in a few months you'll be a lot more employable. And don't forget to submit all those valuable records you've made to your local biological record centre.

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