One of Britain’s rarest creatures has taken up residence in Hackney. 

Alert park rangers discovered the endangered Nathusius’ pipistrelle bat using gaps in a building in Springfield Park as a mating roost during the unusually warm autumn.

The species grows to about 5cm and weighs about the same as a £2 coin. It likes to live near woodlands and watercourses, such as the Lea Navigation that runs by the park, for a supply of insects to eat. 

Greater London is home to nine species of bats (the UK hosts 17), all of them protected in law.

Hackney council says: “Bats are vulnerable to threats such as the loss of places to roost and a decline in the insects that they feed on, so it is important that we look after the places and habitats that they need.
“Gaps in buildings and small cracks in trees in places such as Springfield Park are ideal homes for these special creatures.” 

Photo: Nathusius’ pipistrelle, upside down (it’s a bat), photographed in Hackney by Junior Pierre.