Rare bats and dormice among team's nature wins

A countryside team in Devon has named the discovery of baby dormice and nesting of a rare species of bat as their nature highlights this year.

East Devon District Council said its countryside team, which helps care for the area's nature reserves, had had an "extraordinary" 2024.

The team is tasked with wildlife protection, programming, education and volunteering.

Countryside manager James Chubb said he was "extremely proud" of their achievements and was "looking forward to building on their successes" in the new year.

The team discovered baby dormice for the first time during its monthly survey of dormice boxes at Knapp Copse Local Nature Reserve in August.

They said two rare breeds of bats were also located - adult male Bechstein's bats were found in a bat box at Seaton Wetlands, while a juvenile Barbastelle bat was tracked via radio to a roosting spot.

Among the other achievements, the team said they built nesting sites which saw the hatching of 150 sand martin chicks.

There were also a record number of ospreys spotted, they said, and a rare brown hairstreak butterfly was located in one of the reserves.

More than 2,000 schoolchildren spent time in nature through their outdoor education sessions, the team said.

Mr Chubb said the work done in 2024 provided "vital spaces for wildlife and special places for people to experience and explore".

Councillor Geoff Jung added: "The site management choices being made by the team, such as leaving standing dead wood and enabling sensitive conservation grazing regimes, are having a truly positive impact which is demonstrated by the diverse wildlife at our sites across the district."

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