I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are preparing for/recovering from (depending on when you restart your computer!) New Year. What was your nature highlight? Mine has to be the starlings of Otmoor murmurating with a thrum and a throb - I took this short clip of them in action and have argued that it might just be a tribute to Chris Packham - and why not!

He has been awarded a CBE for services to nature conservation. I have mixed feelings about the honours system - so often a sop to the entitled to keep them quiet. But this is one of those awards that seems entirely justified. 

Reported on the BBC website:

"Packham said the honour was like a "silent thanks" from animals he had defended. "Maybe the silent have spoken, maybe a terrified fox, a wounded harrier or a trapped badger whispered and this is their thanks," he said."

What I love about this is how he is unconstrained ... scientists feel a certain sense of obligation to tune down the emotional component of their output (though get them in the bar at a conference and you will begin to hear the true depths of revulsion many feel at the way humanity treats nature.) Chris is willing to speak directly from the heart ...

Now, many people do speak from the heart - many animal defenders are extremely vocal. But because it can be easy to write off the emotional, they become ignored. Not Chris though - so all power to his work.

I have had the good fortune to meet him a few times - the picture on this update was drawn at the book launch of Fingers in the Sparkle Jar - his memoir - which is an extraordinarily good read (obviously, to be read after you have read mine that is!) - and also as one of his 'ministers', contributing to the the People's Manifesto for Wildlife.

So a wish for 2019? To hear more about the fight to save wildlife - to have it become a mainstream story - to see the honest portrayal of the struggle that many of us goes through as we try to make a difference. And as Chris said at the book launch 'It's not about winning, it's about NEVER giving up!'

So make the hedgehog holes, spread the word about the petition and NEVER GIVE UP! Happy New Year to you all.