Merry Christmas from Birdwatch and BirdGuides!

The festive season is upon us once more and we'd like to wish all our subscribers, contributors and readers all the very best for Christmas and the New Year.

We'd like to extend our thanks to all of you for your support throughout 2023. Your sightings, articles, photos, comments all help to make the BirdGuides website the vibrant and diverse place it is to visit, so thank you.

The recent cold snap has given way to mild Atlantic air in the run-up to Christmas and a whiteout is off the cards for most of us. But, even if the weather doesn't feel overly festive, it's a great time to fondly remember what's been an entertaining year for birding. We've had some super firsts (Least Bittern, Cape Gull and, more recently, Stejneger's Scoter) and some incredible grip-backs (Blackburnian Warbler sitting at the top of the tree).

Merry Christmas from the Birdwatch and BirdGuides team! (Chris Nicholls).

Whatever you're up to over the coming week, we hope you have a restful time and are looking forward to the start of a new year list on 1 January. 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 7.30 am to 10.30 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 online submission form.

Furthermore, the website will continue to be updated with plenty of birding content over the festive period – be sure to visit BirdGuides.com and scroll down to the News, Articles and Reviews sections to catch up with the latest additions.

The BirdGuides and Birdwatch office will be closed from 5 pm on Friday 23 December until 9 am on Tuesday 3 January. However, the sales team (01778 392027) will remain open for subscription renewals (with the exception of Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day) and you can still renew your subscriptions online. We will also be answering emails intermittently over the Christmas period, but do ask for your patience at this time.

Merry Christmas and happy birding from the whole team!