It's not always the bird's plumage that counts - sometime it's the personality that makes it a winner

 

They are not showy birds, so Spotted Flycatchers only attract the attention of particularly observant artists - one being Terence Lambert (born 1951) with this enchanting  gouache study which went under the hammer earlier this month at a sale conducted by Woolley and Wallis at their saleroom in Salisbury, Wiltshire. The pre-sale estimate was that it would fetch between £250 and £350, but it eventually sold for £378 (including the premium paid by the buyer). Definitely a price worth paying.