I follow a lot of talented artists on Instagram and many of them are illustrators of such subjects as, you guessed it, birds. I'm delighted by the number of artists out there, many of them women, who are passionate about wild birds and featuring birds prominently as subjects. Many of these artists also include photos of themselves field sketching or birding. My people! Would the world be smaller please so I can meet and support these awesome gals?

This week I made a connection with one such artist when I decided I needed a favicon of my own. I turned to Instagram for ideas, and to consider who I might approach to design one. I wanted something fun and simple, not too representational, and neutral in color while I figure out the rest of the intent of my website. And I wanted a Vireo. My son's name is Vireo, and these birds are found throughout the US, and while not rare, they are uncommon enough to be special when seen. We have Hutton's Vireos where I live in the Pacific Northwest, and their plumage is just what I had in mind for simplicity and elegance.

The result is this sweet image above, by Wen Rockoff of Birds and Friends. I messaged her through Instagram about my interest and asked her rate, and three days later, this bird appeared in my inbox! Gawd, I love the internet.

Wen is a young artist developing an illustrated cache of feeder birds of North America and turning them into a collection of regional guides. The first such guide can be found on her store here.  She consults Project Feeder Watch at Cornell's All About Birds for her selection, and I cannot wait until her feeder birds of the Northwest region comes out!