A BOOK cataloguing the region’s rich heritage of bird-life is to be produced following a lottery grant.

The Birds of Durham Heritage Project has been awarded £30,000 over the next two years from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The project, which is being led by Durham Bird Club, will see the compilation of the first complete overview of County Durham’s birds to be published for 60 years.

Funding will also pay for a programme of public events, lectures and guided walks as well as online resources to tell the story of the county’s bird heritage.

The Birds of Durham book is expected to be published in late 2011.

Club chairman Paul Anderson said: "The Durham Bird Club has long harboured an ambition to produce a new county ‘avifauna’ and now, with the offer of magnificent support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, through the ‘Birds in Durham Heritage Project’, we will be able to achieve this aim, and so much more."

He added: "Ultimately, it would be fair to say, the Birds of Durham Heritage Project has been created to lead people to a greater appreciation of the County’s birdlife, and the history attached to it."

Ivor Crowther, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund North East, said: "It will also give people a much deeper understanding of how important birds are to both our ecosystem and the natural heritage."

The amateur club, which meets in Durham City, has appointed Keith Bowey, formerly project manager with the Northern Kites Project, has been appointed project co-ordinator.