August gray bat flight at Bellamy Cave in Montgomery County, Tennessee.

Bellamy Cave is home to 230,000 to 250,000 endangered gray bats (Myotis grisescens). They emerge in the evening over the course of an hour and rapidly disperse into the forest canopy to hunt for flying, nocturnal insects.

Bellamy was purchased by TNC in 2006 and turned over to the State of Tennessee to manage as gray bat habitat.

In 2006 there were 140,000 bats in the winter and 35,000 using the cave in the summer. Now there are 350,000 wintering bats and 250,000 in the summer.