A stream, a woodland with ancient trees, large meadows, an orchard and ponds. On their own, these habitats are great for wildlife but put them together and you have The Knapp and Papermill - one of the Trust's most loved and diverse nature reserves. This diversity makes The Knapp an incredible place for bats - Daubenton's bats swoop over the river, barbastelles roost under lifted tree bark on older trees, Leislers feed over the meadows, common and soprano pipistrelles dart around the orchard and lesser horseshoes snooze in the loft space over the education centre.

Volunteers for Worcestershire Bat Group have been installing and, under licence, checking bat boxes at The Knapp for more than 20 years. This long-term monitoring is really important to help us understand more about how wildlife uses our nature reserve, how different species are doing and how we can ensure that they continue to thrive.

Join (excited) podcast host Lee on a bat box check with members of Worcestershire Bat Group and discover more about these amazing flying mammals.

(Spoiler alert: Barbastelles are notoriously flighty, hence their exodus from the roost when the volunteers were nearby. The ecologists returned to that particular bat box at the end of the day and again the next day just to make sure that the pup had rejoined its colony…and it had. A happy ending!)