National Trust installs bat boxes at Belton House alongside River Witham

Bat boxes have been installed by an organisation alongside a river.

The National Trust has recently installed bat boxes along the River Witham within the grounds of Belton House.

These boxes were donated by the Witham Slea Blue Green Corridor Project, and will hopefully play host to some of Belton's resident bats.

In a statement, Belton House explained that Daubenton's bats are the most likely species to make use of the boxes.

Often referred to as the 'water bat', the species typically feeds off small flying insects and hunts over the surface of water, using it's echolocation to detect insects.

The Daubenton’s bat’s preferred feeding habitat is wetland areas, and they prefer to roost during the day near their feeding ground.

Belton House said: “With the restoration of the wetland habitat and the new addition of the bat boxes, we hope the numbers of these wonderful bats will increase.”