Description
Image Size: 26.5 x 34.0 cms (10.4 x 13.3”)
Mixed media (acrylic & pencil) on paper.
Original artwork from page 119 of ‘Orchards Through The Eyes of An Artist’ (Langford Press) ISBN 1904078087
The great spotted woodpecker is the most numerous and familiar member of the woodpecker family found in Britain. Marginally larger than a starling, these pied birds are common and widespread breeders in traditional orchards, woodland and parkland in England and Wales, though their distribution is more scattered in Scotland and they are completely absent from Ireland.
Although this species’ drumming is a distinctive sound of spring, the birds’ call, a short explosive ‘chip‘, can be heard throughout the year and is a useful clue in determining the presence of a nearby individual. The birds sketched here were initially located by such a call, and were observed in a Herefordshire orchard in early spring.
