Abstract
Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. initiated surveys in July 2008 designed to assess bat use within the proposed Georgia Mountain Community Wind Project, Chittenden County, Vermont. Acoustic surveys for bats using Anabat® SD-1 ultrasonic detectors at 3 ground-based stations and 2 vertical strata were conducted from July 1 to October 31, 2008. The objective of the surveys was to estimate the seasonal and spatial use of the study area by bats, as well as to estimate total bat activity, defined here as number of bat passes. In total, 2203 bat passes were recorded during 451 detector nights. Averaging bat passes across locations, we detected a mean of 4.9 bat passes per detector-night, with a range of 1 to 12.5 passes per night.