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 wind-torn 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. The book includes a foreword by filmmaker John Boorman, and features illustrations by Killian Mullarney and Flemming Christoffersen with stunning colour photographs by Dick Coombes. A Life in Trees is to be treasured by everyone – not just ornithologists, but those with an interest in the natural world around them.
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.
"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, The 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