Northumbria Region U3A Bird-watching Group

by Clive Allen and Colin Freeman (Co-leaders)

Several U3As in the Northumbria Region have included a bird-watching group in their activities offer, but it was Wearside and Whickham U3As birders who in May 1999 held the first half-day combined meeting when they met up at Shibdon Pond Nature Reserve at Blaydon.

Interest in shared outings was shown again in May 2000 when seven Northumbria members joined a three-day birding event held in York organised by the then National Bird-Watching Subject co-ordinator Joy Soanes (now retired) where they met fellow enthusiasts from Sheffield and York U3As. Together they went to Blacktoft Sands on the River Humber to see nesting avocets, and to Bempton Cliffs RSPB reserve to view gannets at their largest mainland British breeding colony.

These early ‘models’ showed a possible demand for combined U3A birding group outings in Northumbria, so a programme of visits to local sites through the year was arranged and advertised.

In the event, the visits were well supported by members and similar programmes have been offered every year to the present time. As well as attracting members from some dozen U3As in Northumbria, friends from U3As outside the Region have occasionally been invited along .

Extended visits to birding sites further afield in the UK have been offered over the years with four-day trips to the Solway, Lancashire Mosses and the Isle of Mull being worthy of mention, while the group’s first venture abroad was in May 2007 when five members took a seven day self-drive tour of Mallorca.

As well as half and one-day outings to local sites, the 2008 programme included a ten days guided tour of ‘mainland Spain’ taking in the Gredos mountains, Extremadura and Coto Donana, while SW Andalucia was the target in mid-September to view raptors on migration to Africa. In a similar vein, 2009 had guided visits to the Spanish Pyrenees in spring and Hungary in autumn, while 2010 has Lesvos in spring and Bulgaria in September.

The intensive schedule of half, one and multi-day visits arranged every year requires planning and leadership and to ease the workload this is now shared between four long-standing members. Also, it should be noted that the group could not function without the support of those attending the outings and the car-owning members who kindly offer lifts.

The group is also fortunate in that several members have a wide knowledge of botany and wildlife which they willingly pass on to the rest. This learning in a friendly, enjoyable atmosphere is further enhanced as it usually takes place in beautiful surroundings.

Finally, it should be noted that these Regional Bird-watching Group visits are separate from those of local U3As which continue to arrange their own birding / nature-watch outings.