After visiting a remote photography hide deep in the woodlands of Perthshire, I set my sights on my goal for the day: spotting a pine marten. I patiently waited, and after about 30 minutes, I heard scuttling on the tree bark and thought my moment had come!

But as I peeked out, I was greeted by an unexpected and beautiful surprise—a greater spotted woodpecker. It danced across the branches, pecking away at the bark with peanuts in its beak. Soon, a jay appeared, and the two seemed to be rivals, vying for territory.

I spent the afternoon photographing several woodpeckers, and one of them struck the perfect "classic" pose that I just knew I had to paint.

Sadly, after 10 hours in the hide, the pine marten never made an appearanc. But that’s the magic of wildlife watching—you never know what you’ll encounter. Instead of my planned pine marten sighting, I had the joy of observing this impressive bird all afternoon. A day well spent, indeed