A surprise loser in the wind farms game - bats.

joela

The links posted by Chloe are not credible, the raptor politics site in particular is run by a person who has his own anti-wind agenda. Much of his claims are wildly inaccurate and not supported by science.

The second link is for a survey provider in Ireland and the corpse searches mentioned form part of monitoring requirement for planning compliance at many wind farm sites. The corpse searches are a means of monitoring the wind farm and gathering data to inform future studies and increase scientific knowledge. These searches as a good thing because the monitoring provides information on interactions between wind farms and birds/bats. There has been no findings of significant bat or bird fatalities in Ireland, again I will point out that we do not have migratory bat species as in the US and Europe. We also do not have the raptor species most vulnerable to collision breeding and moving around as they are in the US and other EU countries. White-tailed sea eagle and Golden Eagle are taken into account within surveys in areas where there is potential risk as are all protected bird species. Carcass searches for raptors are also carried out at wind farms where requested for planning conditions. The ultimate aim is to further inform the scientific knowledge we currently have by undertaking monitoring. Monitoring is not limited to wind farm development but is required in many other developments post construction.

Chloe I've repeatedly explained to you that wind farms are most often located in upland sites which do not support habitats suitable for foraging and which lack suitable roost sites. I feel that you have an anti-wind agenda and for some reason you have decided potential impacts on bats is somehow a supporting argument against wind turbines. Bats can be accomodated by good wind farm design, using buffer zones, avoiding flight paths etc. You quite obviously ignore most of what I have said about location, best practice, mitigation etc. so I won't be discussing this any further with you.

Chloe Pink

joela wrote: »

The links posted by Chloe are not credible, the raptor politics site in particular is run by a person who has his own anti-wind agenda.

Your view is that the raptor politics site isn't credible - which of the other links that I have given do you find not credible, I notice you used links (plural) not link?

joela wrote: »

The second link is for a survey provider in Ireland and the corpse searches mentioned form part of monitoring requirement for planning compliance at many wind farm sites. The corpse searches are a means of monitoring the wind farm and gathering data to inform future studies and increase scientific knowledge.

Thanks for confirming

joela wrote: »

These searches as a good thing because the monitoring provides information on interactions between wind farms and birds/bats.

Depends where you're coming from; the dead bats and birds might have preferred that the turbines weren't there.

joela wrote: »

... for some reason you have decided potential impacts on bats is somehow a supporting argument against wind turbines.

Maybe I'm a bat

Besides, its certainly not a supporting argument for wind farms is it

Joela, do you or do you not agree with the below?

Bats are affected by wind turbines through
1. Collision & barotrauma;
2. Changes to landscape including feeding habitat loss and loss of connectivity;
3. Loss of roosts.

We don’t know
– Mortality rates in Ireland;
– Whether mortality rates affect population viability;
– The extent to which bats migrate in Ireland;
– The potential risk posed to different species;
– How different bats react to change;
– How turbines interact with landscape;
– The potential effectiveness of mitigation measures."
etc

What should be happening:
• Local authorities/An Bord Pleanala: Ensure that potential impacts on bats are fully and appropriately addressed in EIA studies – seek advice from NGOs or NPWS if not sure.
• Wind Energy Sector: Help to determine the extent of the impact in Ireland so that survey effort can be better focussed (CIBR Research)."

Chloe Pink

Although Ireland only has a few different species of bat, the following is important:
http://www.irelandswildlife.com/2011/06/leislers-bat-nyctalus-leisleri/
"Leisler’s bats are considered rare throughout their European range, except here in Ireland, where the species is common and widespread. The Irish Leisler’s bat population is the biggest in Europe, and Ireland is a significant European stronghold for this, our largest bat species."

Capt'n Midnight

If there was a significant problem with bats , you could scare them away with noise. Just use ultrasound.

Or use big eye patches or red/white markers, to cater for birds too.

How much is down to the shape / echo reflectivity of the blades ?
During desert storm they'd find dead bats that flew into the stealth aircraft in the hangers.

How many wind farms are in forests where bats roost?

How many wind farms are near cliffs where other species of bats roost?

Chloe Pink

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

If there was a significant problem with bats , you could scare them away with noise. Just use ultrasound.

Ultrasonic bat deterrents are mentioned here but there is little evidence that they work:
http://www.seai.ie/Renewables/Wind_Energy/Wind_Energy_2011_Conference/Bats_and_Wind_Farms,_State_of_the_Art_and_Best_Practice_Guide.pdf

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Or use big eye patches or red/white markers, to cater for birds too.

The speed at which the blades sometimes turn negates the effect of such actions.

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

How much is down to the shape / echo reflectivity of the blades ?

The problem, as stated earlier in this thread, is that much is unknown about bats and about bats and their interaction with wind turbines so in the meantime there are casualties.
It is not just that bats collide with the blades but that the air pressure created by the turbines causes the bats' lungs to explode (barotrauma).

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

How many wind farms are in forests where bats roost?
How many wind farms are near cliffs where other species of bats roost?

Again much is unknown about such matters. Furthermore bats can travel great distances to feed, to seek mates, to change roosts from their hibernating roost to their maternity roost and to migrate etc.


Ironically, if we fail to halt any warming, bats may be one of our greatest allies:
"2.14 Climate change potentially will result in changes in the vegetation communities and
insect populations. Summary predictions for temperature and sea level rise as a result
of global warming have been modeled by the MONARCH project (Harrison et al,
2001). Although these models indicate a much smaller impact in Ireland than in
Britain any rise in temperatures could result in increased availability of aerial insects
and potentially an increase in reproductive success among Irish bat species, although
an increased occurrence of droughts could have a negative impact on species reliant on
aquatic/riparian habitats for feeding."
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:JI5C86jWQNEJ:www.npws.ie/publications/speciesactionplans/2008_Bat_SAP.pdf+&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj0ZpBrveYOgHgox5PivNEdaXGcb3bkkIdg2VG1bEmDW84pf5Y2nHghRVVLrIi48AEBVcFqp7LNU8wMXac791uX_tJ7GeupRj4mdaNDiOcQcGT1JqDUVOuKj23znKo8DPabrUYL&sig=AHIEtbQkNOsVWO52M06AQ3vjr4lFT5aIPQ

adrianglass

HI Folks

Interesting discussion.
There was a plan to site a wind-turbine at a local factory just 160m from the nearest house in my rural neighbourhood.

We were greatly relieved to hear, just this week, than An Bord Pleanala have overturned the local Planning Authority's decision to grant approval, because the original applicant 'refused' to undertake a bat survey.

The house mentioned above has breeding colonies of Brown Long-Eared bats and Pippistrels (spelling?) - but the local planners had concluded that the erection of this 42m-tall turbine wouldn't have any effect on the local ecology. (!!)

Full story here - www.ceramicxwindfarmsucks.com

Apparently this is the first time in Ireland that a turbine application has been refused on the basis of bats...

Adrian

djpbarry

adrianglass wrote: »

Full story here - www.ceramicxwindfarmsucks.com

Apparently this is the first time in Ireland that a turbine application has been refused on the basis of bats...

There's no mention of bats anywhere on that page?

adrianglass

djpbarry wrote: »

There's no mention of bats anywhere on that page?

My apologies - it's on the News page....

The Home page pre-dated the bats' involvement...

Links from the News page ...

http://www.ceramicxwindfarmsucks.com/news.htmlhttp://www.ceramicxwindfarmsucks.com/news.html

... take you to the various documents submitted - including Conor's excellent survey.

Adrian

djpbarry

A project is underway in Wisconsin to attempt to predict periods when large bat fatalities are likely and turn off turbines when the risk becomes too great:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/renewables/fixing-wind-powers-bat-problem/?utm_source=techalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=062812

It's estimated that the resultant reduction in power output will be less than 1%.

joela

The biggest difference between here and mainland Europe and US is that they have a much greater number of species and some of these species have known migratory routes. The US & some of mainland Europe have large migrations of huge numbers of bats during spring and autumn and this is when the risk of mortality is greatest.

The situation regarding the single turbine mentioned in a previous post relates to a known roost of Brown Long-eared bat situated in close proximity to an 80m turbine. The developer was advised to carry out extensive tracking surveys to determine flight paths and chose not to which is why he didn't get planning. However, most wind farms are located in upland regions and not in close proximity to bat roosts. If a bat roost is discovered during surveys for the wind farm then appropriate mitigation, as per Natural England etc.,is put in place. The first approach would be to move the turbine away completely, all turbines will be sited at recommended distances from any commuting or foraging routes.

Most Irish bats are generally found along woodland edges, along hedgerows, along rivers or lakes. However Leisler bats are known to fly significant distances over open ground and are therefore considered to be the species most at risk from turbines in Ireland. Again these bats, while found in open spaces, will still require suitable habitat in the surrounding area for foraging and roosting. Irish bats do not have similar large scale migrations during the year but they do migrate within the country just not the same distances or scale as those on mainland Europe & US.

Many proposed wind farms in Ireland are exceptionally uninteresting in terms of bat activity and are not very exciting to survey. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule but in general upland blanket bog, conifer plantations and the lack of field boundaries make for a paucity of bat life, thankfully!

SeanW

The locals knew there was a bat roost in the house nearest to the wind turbine, which BTW was only 160 metres away (that fact alone should have seen the thing rescinded.

The company behind this thing refused point blank to do the required surveys.

I honestly wonder the windfarm developers are even allowed to do the Environmental Impact Assessments and whatnot at all.

This is a country where property developers were allowed to build un-insulted, un-soundproofed shoebox apartments and housing estates on flood plains. With the windfarm developer commissioning an EIA/EIS, it surely raises a conflict of interest.

I mean, if I had enough money, I could commission a report that says the sky is green.

joela

Wind farm developers do not undertake the EIA, the competent authority e.g. LA or ABP, undertakes the EIA based on the EIS which is provided by the developer. The developer commissions the surveys to inform the EIS. In this situation it was a single turbine and did not require an EIS which is largely part of the problem as at the very least a single 80m turbine in such an area should automatically trigger an EcIA. If the proponent of the project/plan doesn't commission them then who does and who pays for them?

The existence bat roost may have been known but there are bat roosts in lots of places and no one raises an eyebrow when something happens to it or is developed beside it. Then you get a situation like this and suddenly everyone cares about the bats :rolleyes: It wasn't a wind farm developer either in this situation but a business looking to install a single, ridiculously large, turbine. He actually commissioned an excellent company from NI to review the bat work done by Conor Kelleher but when they highlighted surveys required he refused to do them. So hardly able to commission a report to say what he wants now eh?

Finally I take great offence on my behalf and on behalf of my professional colleagues who work very hard adhering to professional codes of practice, following best practice, ensuring we are up to date on literature and research. There are always bad eggs in every profession but they are the exception rather than the norm. There are also situations where people do the work but don't do it very well, again exception rather than rule I feel. Do you have the professional expertise to assess the reports you refer to?

Furthermore the poorly sited housing developments etc. were often sub-threshold not requiring an EIA, developers were pretty cute at building in phases thereby keeping developments under the threshold. It has little to do with the ecological reports etc. commissioned and more to do with the faulty legislation and lack of enforcement. You may have a problem with wind farms but be honest about it and don't blame it on those carrying out survey work.

Chloe Pink

Joela, it's all very well taking great offence on behalf of your professional colleagues but you do the profession no favours when you make statements such as

joela wrote: »

Bats are also less of an issue in Ireland as we have less species than the rest of Europe...

Your statement circum-navigates the fact that although Ireland may have less species than the rest of Europe, it is the stronghold for the otherwise rare (in Europe) Leiser's bats; this makes Ireland extremely important to the survival of this endangered species. http://www.irelandswildlife.com/2011/06/leislers-bat-nyctalus-leisleri/
"Leisler’s bats are considered rare throughout their European range, except here in Ireland, where the species is common and widespread. The Irish Leisler’s bat population is the biggest in Europe, and Ireland is a significant European stronghold for this, our largest bat species."

http://www.batconservationireland.org/php/bats_leisler.php
The Leisler’s bat is rare in Britain and the rest of Europe but it is relatively common here. For this reason the Irish population of Leislers’ bats is considered of International Importance.

http://mammals.biodiversityireland.ie/speciesinfo.php?TaxonId=119464&PHPSESSID=a8706f3e6618ffc1627cd202ce4d8861
"Leisler's bat is common and widespread throughout Ireland, and is of international importance as the Irish population is the biggest in Europe."

djpbarry

Chloe Pink wrote: »

Joela, it's all very well taking great offence on behalf of your professional colleagues but you do the profession no favours when you make statements such as

joela wrote: »

Bats are also less of an issue in Ireland as we have less species than the rest of Europe...

Your statement circum-navigates the fact that although Ireland may have less species than the rest of Europe, it is the stronghold for the otherwise rare (in Europe) Leiser's bats...

Perhaps you should continue reading the post of Joela's that you've selectively quoted:

joela wrote: »

In Ireland Leislers bats tend to be the species of greatest concern due to the distances they fly and how they utilise the landscape.

Chloe Pink

djpbarry wrote: »

Perhaps you should continue reading the post of Joela's that you've selectively quoted:

"Bats are also less of an issue in Ireland as we have less species than the rest of Europe"
"In Ireland Leislers bats tend to be the species of greatest concern"

No mention of the key points though i.e.
The Leisers bat is rare throughout Europe
Ireland is home to the largest population of this endangered species
The Irish population of Leisers bats is of International Importance

djpbarry

Chloe Pink wrote: »

The Leisers bat is rare throughout Europe

No it isn't.

Chloe Pink wrote: »

Ireland is home to the largest population of this endangered species

It's not an endangered species.

According to the IUCN, "The species is widespread and abundant, and there is no evidence of current significant population decline."

I'm finding your earlier claim of being dedicated to protecting bats rather difficult to take seriously.

Chloe Pink

Re rarity, see my previous links and: http://www.arkive.org/leislers-bat/nyctalus-leisleri/#text=Range
"Leisler's bat occurs in England and Wales, but is absent from Scotland. In Europe, although populations are fragmented, it has a wide distribution (5), but is found mainly in the south (7). The species is fairly rare in most European countries (2) except Ireland, where it is widespread and common (7)."

And from your link:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/14919/0:
Population:
"It is widespread although patchily distributed in Europe. Common in parts of range (e.g., Ireland), scarce in other parts (Stebbings and Griffith 1986)."
Also note that's as of 26 years ago
Habitat and Ecology:
"Females migrate over distances up to 1,567 km"
A contradiction to Joela's claim in post 25 that "Bats are also less of an issue in Ireland as we have less species than the rest of Europe and we do not host species which are known to migrate."

I agree it's not "endangered" in terms of the categories used at the link you provide but it is on the "Red List" and categorised for "extinction risk" all be it under the category of "least concern".
See diagram down the page at this link http://www.iucnredlist.org/about
Also see http://www.bio.bris.ac.uk/research/bats/britishbats/batpages/leislers.htm#Status
"Leisler's bats are on the verge of becoming a threatened species worldwide (IUCN status, 2001)."

And terminology at these links: http://www.cb.iee.unibe.ch/content/research/by_model_species/mammals/leislers_bat/
"The ecology of this endangered species ..."
http://www.conserveireland.com/mammals/leislers_bat.php
"They are a legally protected species under Irish, European and international legislation which is a reflection of their importance to natural eco-systems and their endangered status in Europe."
"The Irish Leisler’s bat population is very important internationally as it is the largest in Europe."

joela

Chloe, please see quote from a previous post of mine

Most Irish bats are generally found along woodland edges, along hedgerows, along rivers or lakes. However Leisler bats are known to fly significant distances over open ground and are therefore considered to be the species most at risk from turbines in Ireland. Again these bats, while found in open spaces, will still require suitable habitat in the surrounding area for foraging and roosting. Irish bats do not have similar large scale migrations during the year but they do migrate within the country just not the same distances or scale as those on mainland Europe & US.

Leisler's bats will sometimes migrate up to 50 kilometres to their hibernation roosts. Early in the evening, Leisler's bats leave their roosts. They often travel over 10 kilometres to hunt along water courses and open fields.

http://mammals.biodiversityireland.ie/speciesinfo.php?TaxonId=119464&PHPSESSID=a8706f3e6618ffc1627cd202ce4d8861

Migration Leisler’s bat is considered a long distant migrant in continental Europe (Strelkov 1997) with movements up to 1567km being
recorded (Ohlendorf et al. 2000). There is some evidence to
indicate that Leisler’s bats may, to some extent, migrate over
www.ni-environment.gov.uk/nh-research.htm Review of ASSI designation for bats 16 small distances within Ireland (Shiel & Fairley 1998; Hopkirk &
Russ 2004) but none to show that they leave the island.

http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/review_of_assi_designation_for_bats_amended.pdf

I could go on but I think you may now understand the difference between the IRISH situation and that of mainland Europe/US. Therefore the potential impacts of wind turbines on bats is different in here not only due to bat ecology but also to do with the bat species and the types of habitats present in upland areas where wind farms are primarily located in Ireland.

Please don't come back and misquote and misuse information, if you had carried out any bat surveys or even read any reports then you wouldn't make the claims you have. Turbines & their interactions with bats are of course of potential concern, I most certainly don't want to see vast numbers of bat deaths as a result of inappropriate wind farm siting. There is a PhD currently underway to study same on Irish wimd farms and I hope it brings lots of new information to help ensure appropriate surveys and mitigation are being undertaken for every wind farm.

Chloe Pink

Joela,

Although your later posts are more helpful than your early ones, in an appeal process (or whatever the Irish equivalent) the fact that you contradict your early statements e.g. 2nd post, no.25 "Bats are also less of an issue in Ireland as we have less species than the rest of Europe and we do not host species which are known to migrate." and post no.41 "Irish bats do not have similar large scale migrations during the year but they do migrate within the country just not the same distances or scale as those on mainland Europe & US." and the fact that you make no mention of the international importance of Ireland as a stronghold for the Leislers bat etc would possibly do your case no favours.
Hopefully though, it would be seen as an attempt to downplay the situation and could therefore count against wind turbine development.

However, if I was a bat I would want those representing me to come clean with important facts and would certainly not want those facts to have to be extracted through cross questioning.

Also pertinent (certainly in the UK), is that the initial decision makers on wind turbine proposals do not have direct access to witnesses and so have to rely on written submissions; in such a scenario an early or summary statement in the written evidence such as "Bats are also less of an issue in Ireland as we have less species than the rest of Europe and we do not host species which are known to migrate." could be highly misleading especially as initial decision makers do not necessarily have the resource to plough through the greater detail of a case.

I realise this is not an appeal or a submission for a wind turbine planning application but a thread on one of the largest forums in Ireland; all the same the presentation of information is important.

I also know its a difficult situation, we want our best bat specialists to work with the wind developers but there are cases where the wind developers won't employ certain specialists because they don't quite say what they want them to.

I do acknowledge and appreciate that you write "Turbines & their interactions with bats are of course of potential concern, I most certainly don't want to see vast numbers of bat deaths as a result of inappropriate wind farm siting."

For some, even one bat death as a result of a wind turbine is one too many.

Macha

Chloe Pink wrote: »

For some, even one bat death as a result of a wind turbine is one too many.

And I would hope that most sane people wouldn't pay much heed to this sort of extremist viewpoint.

Chloe Pink

Macha wrote: »

And I would hope that most sane people wouldn't pay much heed to this sort of extremist viewpoint.

Well I guess for some, all the other issues relating to wind turbines outweigh their "benefits" and so one bat death, for them, is indeed one too many.

Macha

Chloe Pink wrote: »

Well I guess for some, all the other issues relating to wind turbines outweigh their "benefits" and so one bat death, for them, is indeed one too many.

I think the "logic" behind the extremist viewpoint was already quite clear from your original sentence. As I said, I hope people recognize how out of touch with reality someone would have to be to believe such nonsense.

joela

Chloe Pink wrote: »

Joela,

Although your later posts are more helpful than your early ones, in an appeal process (or whatever the Irish equivalent) the fact that you contradict your early statements e.g. 2nd post, no.25 "Bats are also less of an issue in Ireland as we have less species than the rest of Europe and we do not host species which are known to migrate." and post no.41 "Irish bats do not have similar large scale migrations during the year but they do migrate within the country just not the same distances or scale as those on mainland Europe & US." and the fact that you make no mention of the international importance of Ireland as a stronghold for the Leislers bat etc would possibly do your case no favours.
Hopefully though, it would be seen as an attempt to downplay the situation and could therefore count against wind turbine development.

However, if I was a bat I would want those representing me to come clean with important facts and would certainly not want those facts to have to be extracted through cross questioning.

Also pertinent (certainly in the UK), is that the initial decision makers on wind turbine proposals do not have direct access to witnesses and so have to rely on written submissions; in such a scenario an early or summary statement in the written evidence such as "Bats are also less of an issue in Ireland as we have less species than the rest of Europe and we do not host species which are known to migrate." could be highly misleading especially as initial decision makers do not necessarily have the resource to plough through the greater detail of a case.

I realise this is not an appeal or a submission for a wind turbine planning application but a thread on one of the largest forums in Ireland; all the same the presentation of information is important.

I also know its a difficult situation, we want our best bat specialists to work with the wind developers but there are cases where the wind developers won't employ certain specialists because they don't quite say what they want them to.

I do acknowledge and appreciate that you write "Turbines & their interactions with bats are of course of potential concern, I most certainly don't want to see vast numbers of bat deaths as a result of inappropriate wind farm siting."

For some, even one bat death as a result of a wind turbine is one too many.

Chloe, as I said before it is obvious you have an agenda here which is not about bats or science but rather an extreme and incorrect understanding of bats and also wind farms. I don't appreciate your hectoring and patronising manner and will be reporting your recent post for same. I find your comment re this being one of the largest forums in Ireland and presenting information properly absolutely hilarious as I have repeatedly called you out on the incorrect statments and so called facts you have been presenting.

As for your comment regarding the death of a single bat *sighs*, do you know how many bats get hit on motorways and roads every night? Do you have any idea the number of people who illegally kill bats or destroy roosts? How about habitat loss, loss of hedgerows, mature trees etc.? if I were you I would be far more worried about the overall biodiversity lost due to farming practices, one off housing, inappropriately sited developments etc. and the impacts on bats.

Chloe Pink

Joela,
I think I've made my point quite clearly.
Re other bat deaths, yes bats have a really hard time, that's why they're protected. What a great idea to add further obstacles into the equation.

Chloe Pink

Macha wrote: »

I think the "logic" behind the extremist viewpoint was already quite clear from your original sentence. As I said, I hope people recognize how out of touch with reality someone would have to be to believe such nonsense.

Nearly as much nonsense as "Bats are also less of an issue in Ireland as we have less species than the rest of Europe and we do not host species which are known to migrate."

Macha

Chloe Pink wrote: »

Nearly as much nonsense as "Bats are also less of an issue in Ireland as we have less species than the rest of Europe and we do not host species which are known to migrate."

No. What you wrote is utter nonsense. There is no energy source that has zero impact on the environment. To believe that an energy technology would have to prove such a thing before it is pursused, would leave us all lighting our homes with candles. It's nonsense and has no place in a balanced debate of energy policy and environmental protection.

God, this thread is depressing.

Chloe Pink

Macha wrote: »

There is no energy source that has zero impact on the environment. To believe that an energy technology would have to prove such a thing before it is pursused, would leave us all lighting our homes with candles.

That was not what I was suggesting or the context in which the only comment you've chosen to pick upon was put which was "Well I guess for some, all the other issues relating to wind turbines outweigh their "benefits" and so one bat death, for them, is indeed one too many."
As I said to Joela, I really think I've made my point in my posts nos. 48 and 50.

Macha

Chloe Pink wrote: »

That was not what I was suggesting or the context in which the only comment you've chosen to pick upon was put which was "Well I guess for some, all the other issues relating to wind turbines outweigh their "benefits" and so one bat death, for them, is indeed one too many."

It is pretty clear it was what you were suggesting with the above sentence. I can pick up on anything you post - that's the the point of Boards. Don't write something if you can't defend it.

Chloe Pink wrote: »

As I said to Joela, I really think I've made my point in my posts nos. 48 and 50.

Good for you.

djpbarry

Chloe Pink wrote: »

Re rarity, see my previous links and: http://www.arkive.org/leislers-bat/nyctalus-leisleri/#text=Range
"Leisler's bat occurs in England and Wales, but is absent from Scotland. In Europe, although populations are fragmented, it has a wide distribution (5), but is found mainly in the south (7). The species is fairly rare in most European countries (2) except Ireland, where it is widespread and common (7)."

And from your link:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/14919/0:
Population:
"It is widespread although patchily distributed in Europe. Common in parts of range (e.g., Ireland), scarce in other parts (Stebbings and Griffith 1986)."

I’m really not interested in arguing semantics. The bat in question is widespread – the fact that it is rare in certain locals does not mean it is in any way scarce on a global scale.

Chloe Pink wrote: »

Also note that's as of 26 years ago
Habitat and Ecology:
"Females migrate over distances up to 1,567 km"
A contradiction to Joela's claim in post 25 that "Bats are also less of an issue in Ireland as we have less species than the rest of Europe and we do not host species which are known to migrate."

Sure, if you quote selectively and ignore the rest of Joela’s post, then yes, you’ve found a contradiction. Well done.

Chloe Pink wrote: »

I agree it's not "endangered"...

Great.

Chloe Pink wrote: »

...in terms of the categories used at the link you provide but it is on the "Red List" and categorised for "extinction risk" all be it under the category of "least concern".

The Leisler's bat shares the same categorisation (“least concern”) as the rock pigeon and the common house mouse – I don’t think there’s any risk of the latter two species becoming endangered any time soon.

This thread is getting ridiculous.

Chloe Pink

djpbarry wrote: »

This thread is getting ridiculous.

I agree but we are talking wind development so what else can be expected. I've made my points for anyone who can read so you guys can post away.
But let's not forget amongst all these words that Ireland is the stronghold for the otherwise rare (all be it wide spread) Leislers bat and so is of international importance.