Club together

The Self-Isolating Bird Club was the online hit of 2020, but presenters Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin only have eyes on the future…

- Paul McGuinness

“I was the most angry young man,” Chris Packham says. “At times, I’ve become the most angry older man. But that anger, I understood a long time ago, it’s implicitly important that you don’t damage yourself with that anger, you don’t let it become a negative energy, you turn it immediately into a creative force.”

With a new book, Back to Nature, exploring how an increased engagement with wildlife benefits both ourselves and our environment, presenters and conservationists Packham and Megan McCubbin are talking positivity. Chris has just returned from the Isle of Wight, and is bubbling with excitement: “I saw a white-tailed eagle, can you believe it?” The reintroduced raptors are just one of the many projects in the UK offering a ray of hope for the future. But with a recent barrage of bad news, it can’t be easy to maintain a positive outlook…

Megan: We’ve got a long way to go, but there are incredibly positive stories happening all around us. So for me, I like to focus on those and wake up and figure out what I can do today that’s different from yesterday that’s going to make a difference. Because, ultimately, every single person has the opportunity and has the power, the potential, to get up and make a difference. No matter how small their actions might be, there is something positive and a benefit that can come of that.

How do you motivate yourself on the more difficult days?