Beneath the Beams: Preserving Drumearn's Bat Population
For more than two decades, Drumearn House has been open to the elements. With no one living in the house and many of the windows broken, it had, over time, become part of the natural landscape again, welcoming wildlife of all kinds including owls, pigeons and three species of bat!
We’ve recorded brown long-eared bats, soprano pipistrelles and common pipistrelles all living on the estate. These species are well documented in Scotland and considered to be in favourable conservation status, with good long-term prospects.
There are bat roots (roosting sites) in the southeast, southwest, and northeast elevations of the building, with the tower proving especially popular. Of course, this has significant consequences for our renovation plans, so we’ve been working in partnership with Tay Ecology, who have been guiding us throughout the bat licensing process and ecological conservation planning.
The biggest challenge this presents is timing. Our bat license only allows work on the roof during a limited window, from October to April, when breeding and roosting won’t be disturbed. This slows everything down as roof repairs are so critical to the wider project.
But we’ve been doing all we can to protect these little creatures and provide them with a safe habitat. When we took ownership of Drumearn House, we installed 15 bat boxes in mature trees across the estate to provide shelter during the restoration work. We’ve also installed owl boxes in the surrounding trees and sealed up the building to prevent further intrusion.
We’re hopeful that, as the restoration continues, Drumearn House can remain a sanctuary for wildlife as well as for people!
