WETLAND birds living in the shadow of an island are reaping the benefits of a Government-endorsed partnership.

St Mary's Local Nature Reserve, in North Tyneside, provides a wetland home for several important species.

The land bordering it is managed by farming brothers Dave and Nick Thompson, who have won a string of awards for their environmental work.

Now they have teamed up with local environmental groups and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to take part in a countryside stewardship scheme.

Under the scheme, which encourages farmers to follow environmentally friendly management practices, the pair have created six-metre grass margins around arable fields at Seaton House to encourage grey partridges to live there and enhance the hedgerow habitat.

They have also created a wildflower hay meadow at Old Hartley.

With a grant from Thompsons of Prudhoe Environmental Trust, the partnership has fenced boundaries and created a shallow pond.

Dave said: "The way we are managing our farmland complements the work that has taken place at St Mary's."