A record number of bats have been recorded at a historic Aberdeenshire mansion.
Rangers for the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), which cares for Haddo House, carried out their annual survey of bats emerging from the nooks and crannies of the old property for their nightly feed.
The bats, of the species soprano pipistrelle, come out in the dark to feed on insects and can consume up to 3,000 midges in one night.
Toni Watt, a ranger for the National Trust for Scotland said: “We count the bats every year and always expect good numbers from Haddo, but this year the bats excelled themselves and we counted 1,001 flying out from the roost site.
“It really was an experience as bat after bat emerged from the crevices in the guttering, dropped down and flew away.
“I was further down the line of surveyors and it was like standing in a pipistrelle blizzard as bat after bat passed above my head.
“The sound of the bats echo-locating to navigate and find their food was amazing, as was the smell of so many bats in the warm evening air.”
She added: “We do hold NTS ranger events at Haddo House for the public to come and see the bats for themselves, and we have some coming up this August.”
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