Grey…with a touch of ivory!
Sonya Stanvic
" I am a wildlife carer with WIRES Blue Mountains branch and have had an interest in bats since I joined in 1988 and thanks to people like Helen Gorge, Julie Spence and Linda Collins who nurtured my interest in all Australian bats, which I still have today. I am only one of many carers who have provided an extra pair of hands in trapping both mega and micro bats for researchers and who also monitor local flying-fox camps every month. Being a wildlife carer is not just about fostering or rescuing animals, many of us are involved in habitat restoration, conservation and wildlife education.
Once a month I visit my local camp to count bats and record any problem which may affect the bats whilst they are visiting the area. The project is to monitor the amount of bats in the camps and pass the information on to Billie Roberts who is conducting her PhD on these colonies.
Sometimes the camp can swell from 3000 bats to such large numbers that you cannot see the leaves on the trees for the bats! Some will hang around until the nectar stops flowing, or it could be a short stop over to rest and re-fuel before taking off to continue the next leg of their journey.
If the Little Red Flying-foxes (‘Reds’) decide to visit the camp-site, they can outnumber the Greyheaded Flying-foxes (‘Greys’) 100 to 1! This puts a strain on the availability of food in the area for the Greys, not to mention the Reds’ habit of clustering together which has caused trees to fall in the camp.
Over the last few years the local colony has played host to a few students working on individual research projects that may provide very important information to insure these animals survive into the future along with their habitat. It was on one of these monthly visits that my spritely 72 years young offsider noticed what she thought was a piece of paper amongst the foliage. It was not until I looked through the binoculars that I realised what it was and I hoped my camera would be able to capture the image as it was some distance away from us. These are the times you wish you had a big lens with plenty of scope sitting on a tripod!
Over the years I have come across a few animals affected by albinism such as ring-tail and brushtail possums, red-belly black snake, birds, kangaroos, koala, microbats and now I can add the Grey-headed Flying-fox to the list. I have seen many “blonde” Pteropus poliocephalus, but not one whose whole body is cream! The beautiful male in these images would be at least two years of age and I believe he was spotted at another camp two weeks before arriving at my camp. I also received an e-mail from a well known flying-fox photographer who thinks he was at her camp in Bellingen in March, however she was so gob-smacked at the sight of him that she failed to take a photo! Whatever colour they choose to wear, they are and will always be a very special and unique flying mammal, I wish him a safe journey and hopefully some other bat counter may come across him in the future. "
Over the years I have come across a few animals affected by albinism such as ring-tail and brushtail possums, red-belly black snake, birds, kangaroos, koala, microbats and now I can add the Grey-headed Flying-fox to the list. I have seen many “blonde” Pteropus poliocephalus, but not one whose whole body is cream! The beautiful male in these images would be at least two years of age and I believe he was spotted at another camp two weeks before arriving at my camp. I also received an e-mail from a well known flying-fox photographer who thinks he was at her camp in Bellingen in March, however she was so gob-smacked at the sight of him that she failed to take a photo! Whatever colour they choose to wear, they are and will always be a very special and unique flying mammal, I wish him a safe journey and hopefully some other bat counter may come across him in the future. "
Grey with a touch of ivory - The Australasian Bat Society Newsletter, Number 34, April 2010
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