A Spotted Flycatcher – forty years ago in my nature notebooks
We’re driving round Italy with telephoto lenses and the windows down. There’s a tiny brown bird on a branch beside us. It’s a Spotted Flycatcher:
![Spotted Flycatcher - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Spotted-Flycatcher-The-Hall-of-Einar-9540.jpg)
It’s over forty years ago since I saw one. I was so thrilled I went straight home and drew what I remembered of it. Here’s my pencil crayon sketch from before I was a teenager:
![Spotted Flycatcher - The Hall of Einar - drawing (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Spotted-Flycatcher-The-Hall-of-Einar-5891.jpg)
It’s a special moment for me to see one. If only it would move just a little further along the branch.
![Spotted Flycatcher - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Spotted-Flycatcher-The-Hall-of-Einar-9550.jpg)
But after forty years of waiting, I can’t complain. I’m too delighted to see it.