It was worrying to read in @The Guardian yesterday that partridge populations are still dangerously low. According to wild bird statistics published by Defra yesterday, there was a 30pc drop in numbers in the five years to 2010.
It seems that outside of the popular carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas, partridges may soon cease to exist.
And the fate of turtle doves, which also feature in the yuletide staple, is even worse, according to the RSPB. The organisation, which this year launched the Operation Turtle Dove campaign, claims the decline is nothing short of a 'wildlife disaster'.
We must all do our best to protect these precious English partridge species - this surely can't be their last Christmas?
They really are beautiful birds, as you can see from these pictures I painted of them. They have very delicate, grey plumage, which is so much more subtle than the brighter red-legged French partridges that thrive in their place.
Let's make sure this is not their last Christmas!
