chestnut-backed chickadee (a natural list, no. 11)

not just a birb, but a borb

You’re reading a natural list, a series in which I (an amateur naturalist) share three delightful things every other week about an animal, plant, or fungus native to California along with an original illustration. It’s by no means an exhaustive list of delightful things, but it’s a start.

This series was inspired by the common tradition of naturalists keeping “life lists” that document the species they’ve seen throughout their lifetimes, and it’ll run as long as it takes to get through every California native species (which is to say, buckle in, because there are over 6,500 plants alone).

Before we get into it, you might have noticed that Filter Feeder has gotten a little visual refresh. It indeed has, and here’s the new logo I illustrated!

The change was inspired by a few things:

1. It was time to add new key elements within the illustration. I was itching to incorporate a whale into the Filter Feeder brand somewhere. Y’all know I love my invertebrates (aka things without backbones), but baleen whales never fail to impress with their filter feeding strategies. I also wanted to incorporate humans in there — hence, the tiny girl hanging on for the ride.

2. I got a new digital brush set. True Grit Texture Supply never fails to impress.

3. I’m launching a physical zine of a natural list. Yes, a printed-and-bound copy of the first ten installments of this series is coming! When I was looking at the digital mock-up, I realized how much my illustration style and taste has evolved over the past several months of regularly creating for this newsletter, and that I wanted a key illustration to match that. I’ll be selling A Natural List, Vol. 1 at LA Zine Fest on June 23, if you’re in the area and want to pick one up for yourself. I’ll be listing any remaining copies on my virtual shop afterward.

This mini-series within the broader Filter Feeder newsletter has been a ton of fun to illustrate, and I’m excited to continue experimenting with my art style as we go on this little digital journey of exploring California nature together.

So, with all that in mind, I hope you find the subject of this edition of a natural list as delightful as I do.