My shed is hot - and three flies got in while I foolishly left the door open earlier - and I will have to wait until the cooler evening before opening the door to let them out! Their buzzing is annoying me!

It was my birthday recently - I was at a festival, the wonderful Green Gathering that takes place in Chepstow. I have missed the last five years of it - two because of covid, and the previous three because I was campaigning on behalf of hedgehogs at the Countryfile Live event at Blenheim Palace. To celebrate my birthday in proper style not only did I get sung to by the inspirational musicians of Seize the Day (my favourite band by a long way - and old friends), and get to watch shooting stars in the dark, clear sky, but I also got to have an hour on stage, talking about us! 

The campaigning we have done through this petition can seem small, but we have achieved things that bigger organisations (this organisation is me in a hot shed with three flies!) would be proud of - and perhaps the biggest is the realisation that we can make a difference.

So - the next small victory, non-hedgehog, but bear with me ... Ivy Broom Rape is a remarkably unremarkable plant - brown, it has no chlorophyl as it parasitises ivy - it looks dead at the best of times. But it is also quite rare. And when a friend of mine spotted some at the end of my street, I was immediately alarmed, because the council were about the put in a new path - right where the plant was growing.

I contacted the council, the ecologist came down the next day and met with contractors. They wrote to me and told me they would work around it. I was a little suspicious and wondered whether this was all to keep me quiet. Anyway - I came back from the festival and went to check - and blow me - they were good to their word. Follow this link to see.

I also got home to find this link in my inbox - from Isabella's dad (see the last update!). Two minutes in and you will see her contribution to Channel 4 news - and she does so very well ... again evidence of a small win that comes from having the guts to speak out!

I doubt I would have done this had it not been for the stories I hear from you about how you have approached councils and developers asking them to please put in hedgehog highways. And what this story does remind us all is how important it is to make that call - if you see something about to be threatened, raise your voice. Find our who your local authority ecologist is - drop them a polite note. I do not think this was special to me - anyone would have got the same response. So please, speak up - 'see it, say it, report it!' - and share what you manage to achieve. 

My favourite birthday card came from my artist friend Debbie Lomas - she is overworked and underpaid and does not promote her art (which she has no time to do anyway) on the internet - but I think she is amazing, and this was done in a few minutes before she fell asleep!

I met with someone who might be able to fund some of my work recently - if that happens I will stop the 'buy me a coffee' page - but until then ... I always feel awkward asking but, if you don't ask you don't get!