AS the bubbling call of the curlew fades like a summer memory, Allen Valleys farmers are already preparing the ground for their return next spring.

Working with the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership and the RSPB, they are improving the nesting habitat for these iconic birds.

With numbers in sharp decline nationwide, the North Pennines is becoming increasingly important to the survival of wading birds in general.

The sweeping pastures and meadows between the moorland and valleys provide just the sort of sheltered habitat they need to nest at ground-level.

However, while a small amount of rush provides shelter, too much quickly reduces the amount of open ground required for both feeding and spotting approaching danger.

So the AONB partnership has provided 20 farmers with a 50 per cent grant through the Allen Valleys Landscape Partnership Scheme, which in turn is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, to remove sizeable areas of rush.

As a result, 400 hectares of new habitat in the Allen Valleys are being created for wading birds. Curlew, snipe, lapwing and redshank will all benefit, as will black grouse and other ground-nesting birds.

RSPB conservation adviser Janet Fairclough said: “Whilst some small scattered areas of rush help to provide important areas of shelter for lambs and wildlife, farmers need to manage these rushes to stop them taking over.

“If more than a third of a field is covered, it will no longer be suitable for breeding waders.”

East Allen farmer Robert Ridley is one of those taking part. He said: “From a farmer’s point of view, the grant is a very positive step as areas of rush, if left unchecked, encroach more each year and that’s detrimental to both wading birds and livestock.

“I do believe that farming and conservation can work hand in hand, as most of the time in the Northern uplands we share the same goals.”