2020 was a tough year for everyone. The countryside, our local parks and gardens have been our salvation, nature our anti-depressant. Which is why the Wharfedale Naturalists Society wanted to celebrate the diversity of plant and wildlife here in the dale. Asking its members to join in their first-ever Christmas plant hunt and birding competition. Aiming to end 2020 on a high, looking forward to happier times ahead. The task was to record as many plants in flower (excluding those in gardens) or birds seen either in the garden or countryside over the festive period (starting Saturday, December 19, and finishing Sunday, January 3). Everyone was asked to keep within the spirit of the times and restrictions, submitting records from within five miles of their home, as the crow flies.