Bat conservation is open to everyone, even city nature-phobes

It’s International Bat Weekend, an annual celebration of the flying mammals that live in trees or in the crevices of buildingsCharlie Hearst is a National Bat Monitoring Programme volunteer and member of the London Bat GroupIt’s getting dark. Thunderstorms are forecast and I’m loitering around a park in Croydon past closing hours, waiting to meet a total stranger. Alarm bells should be ringing if it weren’t for our shared interest: bats. This isn’t an eccentric date