Overview

The Great Spotted Woodpecker first bred in Ireland in 2009. Since then the author has followed the daily lives of this species, a family of whom had taken up residence in a windtorn Spanish chestnut tree near his home in the depths of County Wicklow. This unique and personal account of a family of woodpeckers raising their young brings the reader deep into the world of this fascinating species: a world of hope, love, death, new life and ultimately success. It explores the richness and diversity of the natural wonders found in County Wicklow against a backdrop of a more general overview of the species in Ireland. It includes a foreword by filmmaker John Boorman, and features illustrations by Killian Mullarney and Flemming Christoffersen with stunning colour photographs by Dick Coombes. This book is to be treasured by everyone – not just ornithologists, but those with an interest in the natural world around them.

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9781843517504

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Reviews

'As engaging an expression of a true naturalist's passion as Ireland has produced ... So immediate and concerned is [the author's] account that one comes to live it with him, if spared the scourge of midges that penetrate his dark and humid hide.' -THE IRISH TIMES 'We are visited by hope, joy, pathos, tragedy, su As engaging an expression of a true naturalist's passion as Ireland has produced ... So immediate and concerned is [the author's] account that one comes to live it with him, if spared the scourge of midges that penetrate his dark and humid hide. -- Michael Viney * Irish Times * One man's passion brings to life the story of this once-extinct bird's return to the Republic. -- John Quinn * The Sunday Times * This book, charting these new arrivals to our shore, captures the honesty and harshness of the life-cycle so well. If anything, it shows how even in the most arduous of environments, immense beauty is to be found. -- Daniel Seery * Dublin Inquirer *

As engaging an expression of a true naturalist's passion as Ireland has produced ... So immediate and concerned is [the author's] account that one comes to live it with him, if spared the scourge of midges that penetrate his dark and humid hide. -- Michael Viney * Irish Times * One man's passion brings to life the story of this once-extinct bird's return to the Republic. -- John Quinn * The Sunday Times * This book, charting these new arrivals to our shore, captures the honesty and harshness of the life-cycle so well. If anything, it shows how even in the most arduous of environments, immense beauty is to be found. -- Daniel Seery * Dublin Inquirer * 'As engaging an expression of a true naturalist's passion as Ireland has produced ... So immediate and concerned is [the author's] account that one comes to live it with him, if spared the scourge of midges that penetrate his dark and humid hide.' -THE IRISH TIMES 'We are visited by hope, joy, pathos, tragedy, su

Author Information

Declan Murphy has been watching birds since he was a young child and had parents who took him for walks every weekend to the local woods, mountains, estuaries and lakes of Co. Wicklow. He had “no interest in sport of any sort and even less interest in people” – those, that is, who were not David Attenborough, Éamon de Buitléar or Gerrit van Gelderen.

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