Dana dana dana dana BATWALK

As I seem to be working all day every day lately, and not finding the time to go out and look at birds, I decided to participate in the Wren group's bat walk around Wanstead Park in order to get at least some form of nature fix.  I asked whether it would be okay to wear my Batman costume for the event, and permission was granted.  However, when I looked in the wardrobe all I found was a Superman one.  I thought I'd just look stupid if I went in a superman outfit so didn't bother in the end.  Despite it being marketed as a 'bat walk' we didn't see any bats actually walking, but we did come across a number that were flying.

For those that don't know what a bat am...

A bat is a type of mammal that is mostly a bird.  Think upon the bat as a strange demon-rat with wings.  They are to be irrationally feared and persecuted.  Bats are turned to dust by direct sunlight so only come out at night, which is pretty shady.  They are also unable to enter churches or eat garlic. Aesop probably tells us why this is.

Lady bats have boobs, which is the best thing about being a mammal.  Science loves boobs so much that it named the whole order of mammals after it (mamma = boobies in Latin).  What's more, the 'bat-nip' is actually located in the arm-pit, for modesty reasons.  Bats are as blind as a bat, so rely on echolocation and Sat Nav to know where the hell they're going.

On the walk we saw a good number of Pipistrelles, both common and Soprano, and a couple of Daubenton.  Last time, back in July, we had a Noctule as well, but there was no sign of any today.  It was too dark to take pictures, but see below a sketch what I done of the Batwalk...