Sunday 6th July – Juvenile Bat and Sutton Hoo

Well, really I need to continue the excitement of yesterday. Steve came into the living room in the evening saying “There’s a bat in my bedroom”. Sure enough, there was a tiny pipistrelle (I think) on his wall near the skirting board on the stairs. His room is large and on the lower floor – same level as the downstairs flat. The Loft is on the upper two floors and has a kind of stairs, hallway and front door to the main stairwell, with another door down to Steve’s room which is quite self contained.

I phoned the RSPCA and got the number of the Bat Conservation Trust from their answer phone. It was quite amusing – if you have been contacted by the RSPCA regarding an animal, press 1, for snakes and rodents, press 2, for bats, press 3 etc. I pressed three and got the number of the BCT. From this answerphone I selected the option that would put me through to their volunteer who turned out to be a nice lady based in Cumbria. She told me to gently transfer the bat to a box with some kitchen towel in and put it outside with a small lid of water in case it had got dehydrated. I used a kitchen tub and a piece of cardboard to gently move it without touching it. This I wedged on the balcony. The bat was still alive and occasionally crawled from the inside to the outside. However it did not fly away. We hoped that it would fly away after dark, but it didn’t.

By this morning, the bat was still there looking very immobile and dead. We went out for the day and by the time we returned, he had been blown away by the wind (or flown away, but I doubt that).

Stephen said he’d heard noises the previous day so it is likely that the poor creature had been trapped in the room and got hungry and dehydrated. However this morning when I went in the room Stephen make be be quiet and we listened to sounds of bats behind an air vent in the top of the double-height ceiling. There must be a colony of bats! So the bat may have fallen in the room through the brick, or flown in through the window which had been open. Whatever, I shall phone the bat trust to check what needs to happen, then phone the organisers. Not sure what the status of the place will be with bats liable to fall into the room that may be occupied by children. Difficult – but we need to protect the bats. I feel bad that this bat had died, but I couldn’t leave it in the room with Stephen.

So, today dawned sunny and fine, if extremely windy. We went to Sutton Hoo and took the guided tour which really put the site into context. It was incredible galey and we were glad to get back after an hour and have a lovely lunch in the NT restaurant.

We had an abortive trip to Woodbridge which, to be honest, wasn’t really worth the effort on a Sunday in the wind and rain, then returned to Sutton Hoo to take the blue walk through the woods.

As you enter the site, there is a sign which says something like “If you hear cracking branches in the trees, do not enter in case of falling wood”. We were walking through the forest when Dave said “That sounds like cracking branches” I just said “Cracking but not falling” as a tiny twig branch fell down next to him. It was quite funny. The wind really has been very high today so no sitting on the balcony. It’s all we can do to open the door without getting blown out.

Jane the Tom Tom was working again but misbehaving. Half the time we need to deliberately ignore her directions. Maybe she has PMT. The kids and I want to swap her for Bruce, the Australian voice. He sounds solid and reassuring. Dave doesn’t fancy that. Think he’s getting too attached to Jane.

Returned home to watch most of Nadal beating Federer, and left to go to the Oysterage in Orford for dinner which was quite nice.

We toddled home in the wind but unusually no rain. As we walked into the flat, Esther turned on a light and the main light circuit blew. Luckily the wall sockets, fridge, TV and water heater are still Ok. Found a fuse box but difficult to see in without a torch. Tried flicking the switches but no joy. May be phoning the agents on two counts tomorrow.

What does tomorrow hold (apart from heavy rain!)