#sitta europaea

Graduation birds

My sister completed her Master’s degree last week. As a gift to her supervisors, she asked me to paint some birds. These are all species she’s seen in the forest nearby, where she spent a few months writing her thesis. They are the Eurasian nuthatch, Firecrest, Great spotted woodpecker, and Common redstart. The Firecrest especially was a special happenstance.They are not massively common, and being so small you rarely see them. But my sister got a good look at one when a juvenile hit the window. It took a few minutes of rest in a dark box to recuperate, before it luckily flew off.