The Months of January and February

Its been a strange and busy couple of months - including one of my sons getting appendicitis! - hence no posts for a while. But here are some of the things worth noting.

I went with my sister to see an amazing ballet - I still don't quite know what I make of it, but it was certainly beautiful, entertaining and powerful. Matthew Bourne's Swan lake. It is famous for its all male troupe of swans and the captivating relationship between the main male lead swan and the prince. Really beautiful piece of theatre.

As a ballet to see if you think you might not like ballet - it is amazing. Even the ballet experts must agree it has a power and beauty that is often missing from the traditional tutus - love that as I do.

I've also started working on a major series for BBC Radio 4 on biodiversity. It is fascinating and I hope you'll catch some of the series which starts in the first week of April. Its called Saving Species.

My husband went to N Japan, to the island of Hokkaido, to record whooper swans, sea eagles and red-crowned cranes and bought back some beautiful pictures. The squirrel is delightful.

Last week I won Gold and Silver at the Christian Broadcasting Council Awards for Best Internet programmes - which was great. prisoner and the Budgerigar got Gold and A Christmas Robin got Silver. Judges comments:

Gold: ‘The Budgerigar and the Prisoner’

I loved the way this feature took people who are usually marginalised by society (a prison inmate), and humanised him by simply letting him speak for himself: Simple but effective, and very moving.

Silver: A Christmas Robin

A pleasant, easy listen, with great use of sound effects and outdoor recording that made you feel as if you were out in a field bird-watching. The way in which it combined a natural history lesson with the Christmas message and spiritual reflection is also commendable. Nice music too.

Barnoness Caroline Cox giving awards

I have an article in this edition of Justice Magazine - Haiti and the Earthquake.

This coming week I'm finishing the long over-due podcast on Baby P, I'll post it when I can. harrowing to make but I'm glad I did it.

Just before Christmas we went on our annual pilgrimage to see the starling roost on the Somerset Levels. It was a freezing cold night with a bitter wind and sub zero temperatures - but that gave the Levels their famous winter hue with the stark outline of leafless trees looking primeaval against the washed out sky. These 3 swans flew in against the sunset.

And then the starlings arrived.

How can such tiny birds as starlings withstand the freezing night? I had so many layers on I could barely move! A starling feels so light and bony in the hand, yet can make it through hours of freezing darkness.

There is always that sense of excitement when the first small flocks begin to appear. Tiny dots that seem to be created out of the sky - where do they come from? One minute all you can see is a vast flat landscape and empty sky - the next the starlings are swooping overhead.

Because it was so cold they seem to hug the tops of the trees and fly straight into the reeds.


This winter ritual is as important to me as decorating the tree, it defines the season and always makes me wonder - about the resilience of life, its vulnerability, its ability to make you feel grateful, humble and in awe all at once.

The Levels are the result of peat workings when the natural wetlands were drained. I wonder what they will be like in 100 years time when the sea has encroached and the flat lands around Britain flooded and the wetlands return to provide that vital buffer between land and sea. Something like 80% of our wetlands have been destroyed or badly damaged by development and draining, and worldwide we have lost half of the wetlands that existed 100 years ago.

If we take away the land that provides a natural interface between the energy of the sea and the dry land we can expect even more severe flooding. Maybe as the climate changes and we can no longer hold back the inevitable we will allow them to return - as we are doing already in many places - its called managed re-alignment.

Perhaps once again the Somerset Levels will be the domain of plovers, curlew, waders, bitterns and cranes - and starlings in the reed beds on a much greater scale than at present.

And if it is, I hope many others in the future will enjoy the marvel that is our wetlands and wonder how we ever let them disappear for so long.