... and here's lunch.

The release of threatened harvest mice yesterday is part of a bid to reverse the headlong decline of the creatures in the North-East.

It was a key day for Newcastle University researcher Wendy Fail.

Wendy, from Nedderton Village near Morpeth, is studying harvest mice conservation in Northumberland for her PhD.

This has involved Wendy and Castle Morpeth Council local nature reserves ranger Sam Talbot breeding the mice in captivity.

Northumberland Wildlife Trust's new nature reserve at East Chevington ( a former opencast site ( was chosen as the new home for the mice.

Sam and Wendy ensured that there was no resident population already in place at the release site by putting out tubes to trap hair from passing animals, checking for mouse nests and analysing the remains of owl pellets with the help of Druridge Bay Middle School.

They also went out with volunteers from the Friends of Carlisle Park group in Morpeth at dawn and dusk every day for three weeks to check for harvest mice. The captive mice have been held in enclosures on the site so that they could become acclimatised to their new surroundings. Another release site is in Stockton on Teesside. Sam said: "It is wonderful to actually release the mice into the wild after all the months of preparation."

The last recorded sighting of a harvest mouse nest in the wild in Northumberland was north of Morpeth last year ( one of only two harvest mouse colonies in the county. The other was near Ponteland.

Wendy, 25, said: "It is fantastic to see all our hard work finally come to fruition.

"As well as releasing the mice, we are also going to monitor their progress over time through trapping and nest searches.

"This will allow us to evaluate the success of the release programme over the coming months and years."