Bats in Dutch offshore wind farms

This video is called Nathusius pipistrelle bats advertising for mates.

Translated from IMARES in Wageningen, the Netherlands:

Bats in Dutch offshore wind farms

Sunday, May 26th, 2013

For the first time it has been shown that bats occur in the two offshore wind farms on the Dutch Continental Shelf in the North Sea: Offshore Wind Farm Egmond aan Zee (OWEZ) and the Princess Amalia Wind Farm (PAWP).

The species identified are Nathusius’ pipistrelle (Pipistrellus nathusii) and the noctule bat (Nyctalus noctula). These two bat species are known to be long distance migrants. The observations can therefore well be about migrant animals. However, it is also possible that these are bats flying back and forth from the mainland to forage; so, local populations. There is no evidence that bats have a residence in the wind farms. Further research, which has already started, aims to collect more information on how bats use the offshore wind farms.

Britain’s bats could face difficulties this summer following two cold springs in a row, a charity suggests: here.

Wind farms: new report provides latest know-how on reducing environmental impact: here.

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• August is Time to Go Bats in France (french-news-online.com)
• Offshore Wind Farms Could Protect Cities From Hurricanes (njtoday.net)
• If you go down to the woods today… (sti-cs.org)
• Freeport guides worry that offshore wind turbines near Monhegan could kill migrating birds (bangordailynews.com)