Bat Forts in Belgium

Been a bit quiet so far this year, just taking some time to chill and be. But I came back online to tell you about a fascinating trip I went on looking at bat hibernation sites in the forts around Antwerp with Natasja, who I mentioned last blog. It was great to be invited as this was something quite different from the usual fieldwork I had done before. This huge matrix of old military buildings being used for bat hibernation was super cool and researchers were coming together from many countries across Europe to take part in the counts.

The forts in the belt around Antwerp are really important winter refuges for bats. Their underground passages and chambers stay cool, quiet and frost free, which are ideal conditions for bats to slow their metabolism, drop their body temperature and conserve energy until spring returns. Each year thousands of bats from many different species find their way into these forts to do exactly that.

Walking through those old military structures was really cool. I love exploring buildings like this at the best of times, interesting architecture and history everywhere you look, but add entire colonies of bats in deep torpor and it becomes something else entirely. There were some species I had not seen before either which was exciting. For one of our sites the team actually had to travel by little dinghy to reach the fort, which was brilliant. We spent a few days in the area doing this work so it felt like a bat themed winter camp for researchers. A brilliant mix of history, architecture and bat ecology all in one.