On a damp Saturday 26th January 2019, seven volunteers from Staffordshire and Derbyshire Bat Groups joined forces to undertake the annual hibernation survey of four underground caves owned by the National Trust in the White Peak area of the Peak District. Surveyed regularly since 2014 the Groups are starting to build a picture of how the bats use the sites during the winter months. On Saturday we found ten bats as it had been quite mild in the week running up to the check. Species identified were Natterer’s, Daubenton’s and whiskered/Brandt’s bats although not all bats were possible to identify as some were tucked into small crevices so that only fur was visible!
