New service station to dim lighting for bats
A fuel company is going into bat for the wellbeing of a critically endangered species that will soon have to fly over its new 24-hour service station in Geraldine.
The NPD service station site sits directly in the flight path taken at night by a colony of longtailed bats living in nearby Talbot Forest. The bats fly to the Waihi River behind the site where they forage for food.
Concerns have been raised about lighting from the complex possibly confusing the diminutive bats and NPD has agreed to remove some lighting and added dimming capabilities to others after talks with the Department of Conservation and the Talbot Forest Working Group (TFWG).
‘‘We know lights have an adverse effect on bats; they get confused and the NPD sites are bright and glary,’’ TFWG member Ines Stager said.
TFWG raised the issue with NPD last month after learning what had happened at another of the company’s sites in Kaikoura.
‘‘There has been a disaster at the NPD site in Kaikoura where hundreds of Hutton’s shearwater were recently flying over Beach Rd at 6am and many were diving at the NPD petrol station, disorientated by the bright 24/7 lighting.
‘‘Sadly a few birds collided with the lights and died laying on the ground,’’ Stager said.
NPD chief executive Barry Sheridan said they believed ‘‘there were two birds affected’’ at Kaikoura.
Since that incident they had reduced their lighting at Kaikoura and were mindful of identifying moonless nights, especially during March and April, when the fledging birds made their maiden flights to the sea.
Sheridan believed the bats were are not in danger of being disoriented, ‘‘but are more likely to be attracted to their prey species which gather around exposed lighting.
‘‘While this doesn’t pose any danger to the bats, it can alter their behavioural patterns.
‘‘The local Geraldine DOC ranger has advised us to minimise unneeded lighting and minimise lighting around the Waihi River and riverside vegetation.
‘‘We have removed the lighting along the river-facing edge of our canopy and installed dimming capability to this site,’’ Sheridan said.
Stager said the group was pleased with the response they received from NPD after alerting them about the lights.
‘‘They came back to us straight away saying they will try their best. It’s not just bats, birds and insects who get confused (with the lights), it affects people as well.’’
Consent for the new station was non-notified, which meant people did not have an opportunity to make a submission.
DOC senior ranger biodiversity Rob Carson-Iles said they had been in talks with NPD to reduce the impact on the bats.
‘‘There are long-tailed bats in a number of places in the North Island ... but Geraldine is the only place on the east coast of the South Island.’’
He said small colonies were located from Mt Peel to Geraldine, towards Temuka, Pleasant Point and Kakahu, with an estimated population of 300 to 400.
‘‘There are pretty small numbers and the bats are really small, a pregnant female is only 12 grams. They feed on insects they catch on the wing foraging along the edge of rivers and shelter belts.
‘‘In Geraldine, they are roosting in the holes of trees and go out at night foraging for insects. Their two main threats are loss of roosts and predators. They move to different roosts every couple of days.
‘‘There are known roosts in Talbot Forest close to the (NPD) site and in a lot of trees we won’t know about.’’