Happy holidays from BirdGuides and Birdwatch!

2020, eh. Not exactly been a blast, has it? That said, the holiday season is once again upon us and we'd like to wish all our subscribers, contributors and readers all the very best for the festive period. Be it sightings, articles, photos, comments or anything else, your contributions this difficult year have once again proven most valuable – BirdGuides would not be what it is without you, so thank you very much!

Could a Snowy Owl be on the cards for this festive season? (Jon Mercer).

For many reasons, 2020 has been a year that will live long in the memory. We've experienced all manner of restrictions during a very different pandemic year, but birds have proven to be a reliable source of joy throughout. A greater appreciation of the common species seen through your window was one element and, at the other end of the scale, 2020 was also perhaps the best ever year in terms of rarities – the list is endless and far too long to spell out. A complete summary of 2020 in British birding, with a fresh twist, will appear in Birdwatch soon. And on that note, the January edition is out tomorrow.

"Rather than ho, ho, ho, it seems to be more no, no, no this winter. But despite the trials and tribulations of 2020, we're delighted with how we've been able to keep things moving forward here at BirdGuides and Birdwatch. There are plenty of exciting developments to come in 2021, too, so stay tuned in," says BirdGuides Head of Content Josh Jones.

The pandemic meant we were forced out of our London office in spring and have been working at home ever since. Despite these trying times, we're proud to have launched our hugely popular new bird news app in the summer – thank you to all who have provided such positive feedback. We will be sure to make it even better moving forward, too, with lots of ideas earmarked for development.

This year we welcomed Sam Viles on board as BirdGuides News Manager and he comments: "I hope all our customers have an enjoyable and safe festive period. In what has been an incredibly tough year for everybody, that connection to the natural world has been vital for many of us, and the BirdGuides news team have been delighted to help facilitate that. Thank you for your continued contributons and watch out for more developments as we head into 2021."

As always, our bird news service will continue to run non-stop throughout the festive fortnight, bringing you the latest bird news from around Britain, Ireland and the Western Palearctic from 8 am to 11 pm each day. If you're out in the field and have some notable bird news, please do let us know either by calling us on 0333 577 2473, emailing sightings@birdguides.com or by using our app or online submission form.

Happy holidays from the whole team!