Welcome to the events page
Northumberland Bat Group AGM 2024
29th April 2024 at 7pm. Location: Prudhoe Riverside Park
All members are welcome to attend, and if anyone is interested in joining the committee please let one of the committee members know before the meeting. To find out where the meeting is, please check the directions link to the bat walk on the same night. We thought we would have the AGM, then go for a walk, like we did last time. For the Minutes from the 2023 AGM, and the agenda for the 2024 AGM check your email. An all member’s email was sent out with links to the documents. No need to book, just turn up, there will be tea and coffee, maybe cake too! (for location please see the google link in the Bat Walks section – same date).
Bat Walks 2024
This year we have decided to continue with the bat walks in spring rather than just doing them all in August September. Below is the list of walks to date. For walks where we are still awaiting confirmation, the meeting point google pin has been omitted. As soon as the event is confirmed it will be updated. No need to book a spot, just turn up. If the event is cancelled due to the weather, this page will be updated to reflect this – like a mini message board.
04 April 2024 – Tyne Riverside, Newburn, meet at 1950 for a walk along the river. Drive down past the Keelman Pub, and park in the free parking facing the river. Google Link to Meeting Point.
10 April 2024 – Leazes Park, Newcastle, meet at 2000 for a walk around the park and pond. Meet in the carpark off Richardson Road, opposite the hospital. Google Link to Meeting Point.
29 April 2024 – Prudhoe Riverside Park. This is for the AGM, followed by a bat walk. The AGM will start at 1900 and we will use the Riverside Park Café. The bat walk will take place at about 2030 once the sun has set. AGM open to all, as is the bat walk, you don’t have to do both. Google Link to Meeting Point.
02 May 2024 – Blyth/East Sleakburn. Meeting at 2045. Meeting point will be Dene Park, Furnace Bank Parking. Google Link to Meeting Point. This will also be a combined trip with the local litter picking group too.
What to expect: a bat walk lasts between 1 – 1.5 hours, generally walking over flattish terrain, but some walks do follow foot paths so may not be wheel chair friendly – please email contact us to find out more, as some of the walks will be suitable. For each walk, please bring warm clothes, walking shoes and a flash light, then we can provide you with a bat detector and give you a short lesson on how to use it. Walks are generally limited to 20 people, so emailing the organiser is a must. Children welcome. Cost Northumberland Bat Group organised bat walks is voluntary, we will bring a donation box, but suggest £2 per person, but it is up to you! Walks organised through other entities may vary.
Bat Care Training
Gibside: Sat 13th April, 10:30-13:00
Tim has kindly agreed to host a bat carers meeting at the stables at Gibside. This is a training session, suitable for new carers and those more experienced.
The stables is a 15 minute walk from the car park. Please let me know if you are planning to come along as I need to arrange access for you all. Contact: Tina Wiffen malinka1999@btinternet.com
Nathusius Pipistrelle Project
Graeme and Mandy have been busy scheduling the next Nathusius’ Pipistrelle Project survey nights. The nights proposed for survey are:
- 2024 dates to be arranged.
For at least the first of these nights, we will be in the coastal area near Druridge Bay and the night will involve transect surveys with detectors seeing if Nathusius’ pipistrelles are still present at sites we know they used in previous years.
Later in the season, we plan to be catching and ringing bats (once the National Nathusius’ Project trapping licence is approved).
If you want to come along and get involved, please email nathusiusproject@northumberlandbats.org.uk letting us know what night you would like to join us. If you could also provide a mobile contact number in your email as well (in case of any last-minute change of plans) that would be great.
All levels of bat experience welcome! Don’t worry if you haven’t done much (or any) bat work before. We can pair you with someone more experienced. (So it would be useful if people could let us know what, if anything, they have done before).
We do need to manage numbers of people (to keep things manageable and make sure we have enough equipment to go around) so places are on a first come first served basis for each night, but moderated so that everyone gets a chance to get involved.
Meeting times and places will be emailed out to attendees nearer each survey night.
One last thing, for insurance purposes you need to be a member of Northumberland Bat Group to join these surveys. No worries if you are not, it is easy and free to join… Just click on the contact us page and sign up to the newsletter.