MAMMALS

BAT

This picture shows a large bat with wingspan of over 30cm flying just before noon at the back of Hainault Lake. It looks Nyctalus-like with narrow wings and more likely to be Noctule than Leisler's although they look similar in flight. Bats are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Hainault Forest provides a home for many bat species including the rare Barbastelle recorded by static detectors in the Old Farm Buildings during 2017, the first recorded in London since the 1950s. The Barbastelle Bat lives in crevices of old trees in mature forests with roosts found in only a handful of locations. Bats are in decline due to extensive loss of deciduous woodland and fragmentation of natural habitats associated with development. They can be infected with rabies bat lyssavirus.