12. Long-eared Bat

Long-eared bats are among the most delicate night-flyers I know. They drift through the dark like scraps of leaf, so light and silent you’d never know they were there. Their ears — nearly as long as their bodies — give them extraordinary hearing, letting them pick out the faintest rustle of a moth’s wings in mid-air.

There are two species in Britain: the Brown Long-eared and the Grey Long-eared, both expert hunters of the night. The brown variety is the one most often found here. It feeds mainly on moths and beetles, gleaning insects straight from leaves with barely a sound. To do that, it listens more than it shouts — using gentle clicks of echolocation, but mostly relying on passive hearing to sense movement in the dark.

They emerge from roosts just after sunset, often from old trees, barns, or the quiet corners of buildings. Their flight is slow and flexible, perfectly suited for weaving through branches or along hedgerows. In summer, females gather in maternity roosts to raise a single pup, which learns to fly by the soft light of evening. Come winter, they hibernate in caves, tunnels, or hollow trees, folding those long ears carefully under their wings to keep warm.

Light pollution troubles them — too bright, and the insects they depend on disappear, leaving the bats hungry. True night is their world: safe, familiar, and full of sound invisible to us.

Sometimes, on still nights, you might hear the faintest rustle or see a flicker of movement just beyond the lamplight. That’s a long-eared bat going about its business — a quiet reminder that darkness isn’t empty, it’s alive with small, careful wings.