Audio-visual artist Claire Todd introduces a new bat-based collaboration with Stephen Rutt.
‘Bats are strange mammals. They live their lives as a shadow of ours: they wake as we go to sleep; they sleep as we awake (and they sleep upside down too, their feet the highest part of their body). They see through sound: they navigate and hunt by the echoes of their own voices. They are as strange and magnificent as any of Scotland’s more obviously charismatic fauna – yet they are ignored. They lurk on the periphery of the public consciousness’. – Stephen Rutt
Whilst most of the UK were basking in the balmy and barmy temperatures of summer 2025, indeed the hottest on record according to the Met Office, I was ensconced indoors in my studio. Ears swaddled and sweating in closed-back headphones, forensically listening to the dulcet tones of writer Stephen Rutt, and his recordings of bats and static. At the end of last spring, I was approached by Stephen to ask whether I would be interested in collaborating on his creative evaluation of bat conservation in the Solway region for Species on the Edge; a collaboration of eight conservation organisations, working with communities across Scotland’s coasts and islands to save our rarest and most vulnerable species from extinction. Having discovered Stephen initially through his writing on Caught by the River, and realising our shared love of the natural world, I jumped at the chance.
Stephen’s evaluation takes form as a triptych response, collectively entitled Echoes & Whispers, which encompasses an in-depth, reflective essay and a handmade artist book, featuring images and selected sections of his writing. The third element grew wings and ears, transforming into an immersive six-part audio journey that I produced using Stephen’s research recordings as the basis on which to develop an atmospheric, auditory counterpoint to his essay. Taking in four species of bat, namely Soprano Pipistrelle, Common Pipistrelle, Daubenton’s and Brown Long-Eared bats, Echoes & Whispers is a sonic exploration into these four species, recounting Stephen’s experiences and findings, woven with field recordings, interviews with project members, and the voices of volunteers who regularly take part in bat walks and help to collect vital data.
Given the geographical distance between us, which pretty much is the full border span of Scotland, all of the audio was recorded remotely, either by Stephen or myself. Having not taken part in any of the bat walks personally provided an interesting challenge, requiring significant interpretation gleaned from Stephen’s text and recordings. I wanted the listener to feel as though they were experiencing Stephen’s insights first hand, reflecting both the ambience of bat detection and their habitats, and also the passion of the project team and volunteers. The series has been produced as a six-part podcast, each with its own distinct sonic atmosphere, where I sought to capture the essence of each species and create an intimate experience with an audible sensation of binaural sound; experienced at its best through headphones. The vocal commentaries are set against musical backgrounds and interludes that were created using photographed and scanned images of bat habitats, and converted to synthesised sounds to shape melodies that are interlaced with bat calls and the static resonance of the bat detector. The incidental visuals accompanying the audio series were produced through the animation of sonograms generated by the bat recordings, reflecting the almost ghostly, fleeting glimpses of bats in the gloaming.
Stephen’s full and beautifully produced written interpretation and artist book can be found on his website and the Echoes & Whispers podcast is available here on YouTube as both a podcast and a subtitled version. It’s also available on Spotify.
Huge and special thanks to Stephen Rutt for trusting me with his words. And many thanks to Species on the Edge, and all of the volunteers efforts and voices in protecting our most vulnerable species.
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Claire Todd is a writer and artist living in the Scottish Borders. Visit her website / follow her on Instagram. See her previous work on Caught by the River here.
Stephen Rutt is a naturalist and the award-winning author of three books. He can be found on Instagram and Bluesky. Find his writing for Caught by the River here.