Rare Nathusius' pipistrelle rescued in Northeast after likely 1,000-mile journey

A rare Nathusius' pipistrelle, believed to have travelled as far as 1,000 miles (1,609 km) after crossing the North Sea, was rescued in Whitburn, South Tyneside, after colliding with a car windscreen on 7 September and later released by rehabilitators in Sunderland.

The small bat, given the name Nancy by her carers, suffered bruising in the crash and received several days of treatment before volunteers declared her fit for release. Durham Bat Group said specialists confirmed the species from markings on her wings and described the sighting as "once-in-a-lifetime" and "significant" because the species is primarily recorded in parts of eastern Europe.

Julie Kilmartin, who brought the bat into her home for rehabilitation, said volunteers wore personal protective equipment to reduce any risk of spreading disease while handling the protected species. "It's quite a big feat for something of this size to fly that far," she said, noting Nathusius' pipistrelles do not have hollow bones like birds and so require considerable effort to sustain long migratory flights.

Carer Lauren Davison said the find was important for understanding the species' movements. "It's incredibly significant because of the distance we believe they've travelled," she said. Davison and Kilmartin used a bat detector and reported hearing other individuals nearby before releasing Nancy, suggesting she had been part of a larger group arriving from the North Sea.

Volunteers spent several hours confirming the bat's identity, and specialists across the region corroborated the species identification. The Environment Records Information Centre North East said there have been 358 reports of this species across the North East, with a single earlier record in Sunderland in 2016. Research is limited, but tracking in 2017 recorded a Nathusius' pipistrelle moving from Northumberland to Poland.

After being satisfied that she had recovered and was well fed, carers released Nancy to attempt to rejoin other migrants. "In my hands I could feel she was ready, she was excited, she was ready to go and she was pushing through my fingers and she wanted to go," Davison said.

Scientists describe Nathusius' pipistrelles as migratory, with known populations in parts of Russia and Poland and occasional records in western Europe. Conservation groups said each confirmed sighting contributes to broader efforts to map migration routes and understand why the bats travel to the UK to mate and hibernate.

Durham Bat Group said it hopes the sighting will feed into a wider research programme to clarify the species' migration patterns and destinations. The rescue and release illustrate both the long-distance movements of some bat species and the role local volunteers play in monitoring and conserving protected wildlife.