A FLOCK of Chilean flamingos at a North-East visitor attraction have been so successful over the past five years that some of the birds have had to be moved to another location.

After a slow start, the flamingos, from South America, have settled in at Washington Wetlands Centre, Wearside, and each successive nesting season they are producing more chicks.

A record 11 chicks fledged last year.

This has caused a problem for staff at The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), because the original Flamingo House was only designed to hold about 50 birds but the flock has increased to 65.

Aviculture Warden Darren Grieves said: "Apart from helping our colleagues out, it is also an important part of the way we manage captive birds.

"By exchanging birds between sites we help to maintain the gene pool and thus maintain a healthy and viable population."

Flamingos only breed in about 30 locations throughout the world, so, despite the huge numbers that occur in some species, they are in a very vulnerable position.

Meanwhile, poet Maureen Almond and visual artist Nicola Balfour have been in residence at Bishop Harland School, Sunderland, since January.

The artists have encouraged a group of year five children to write poetry and create their own silk paintings in response to visits to the wetlands trust.

The project is part of The Secrets of Sunderland, a New Writing North project commissioned and funded by Sunderland Education Action Zone, with additional funding from Arts Council North East and the City of Sunderland.

The children's work is on show splay at the centre until April 28.