BATS are having a good year at Cotehele, according to National Trust rangers, as ten out of the 17 resident UK species identified by the Bat Conservation Trust have been spotted at the Cotehele estate.

This is a busy time of year for bats. Having come out of hibernation, they're fully active and busy feeding as the nights get warmer. The females are roosting in maternity colonies and preparing to have their pups.

Cotehele Ranger James Robbins said: 'Bats are a vital part of our native wildlife. Sadly, like a lot of our native wildlife, they are under pressure from the changing world that we live in.

'I like to think here at Cotehele we offer them a sanctuary.

'Cotehele provides a variety of habitats to support so many species. Bats on the estate include tiny pipistrelles, which are smaller than the size of a thumb, Daubenton's, sometimes called "water bats" because they catch insects from the water's surface and greater and lesser horseshoe bats. While horseshoe bats are rare in the rest of the country, they're doing well in Cornwall and Devon.'

Bats roost in the eaves of Cotehele's holiday cottages, hollowed trees and the nooks and crannies of the limekilns in Cotehele Quay.

Several colonies of lesser horseshoe bats roost in four chimneys in Cotehele House.

James encourages visitors to go down to Cotehele Quay in the evening to watch the bats swooping overhead and feeding at the river.

Each species can be identified from their unique high frequency squeak, emitted when flying, so James suggests taking a bat detector to aid in their identification.