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The Daily Artisan

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The Daily Artisan

The Daily Artisan posts photographs taken by Susan Evans, including birds and other wildlife; flowers; food; and more! Hello there! I'm Susan Evans.

In 2021, I decided to leave an executive position and career I’d held for the past 27 ½ years as a founder of the organization. With no concrete plans other than a sense I’d probably start a consulting business for crisis and executive communications given my background, I decided to first take a few months without deciding for certain just what I would do next. I would let each day unfold with th

e unusual opportunity to wake up and decide what I wanted to do with my next 24 hours! Each day I found myself choosing to do one of the fulfilling and creative pursuits that for my entire adult life have been marginally squeezed in where precious time away from my career would allow. Photography and baking and writing and drawing and reading and painting came to the forefront, and my days now are devoted to these things that are filling my life with beauty and creativity. Who would have guessed that the most uncertain (career-wise) time of my life could feel more certain and engaged than ever before? I have found myself using my hands and heart to regularly create in a way that never seemed to find enough time before. Soon I realized I couldn’t go back to sidelining what matters most to me, and thus the idea of The Daily Artisan came to be as a gathering space to share things that bring me to this centered place, and to encourage and inspire others to find those things that can do the same for them in making a more creative life. Recently I read a quote from American music composer Truman Fisher that goes like this: “The pause is as important as the note.” Well, I don’t think this for me is a pause because it surely feels like the note! The Daily Artisan is a posting of my photographs of wildlife, flowers, food, events and more! You also can check out the photographs on my Instagram account . Let’s be creative!

06/04/2026

FIELD NOTES (6.4.26): Mockingbird picks up Color

It’s interesting to see how the light parts of a bird can take on color reflected by the sky and water, in this case a Northern Mockingbird whose white feathers partly became blue while perched over water. I would never transform through editing a bird’s colors to be something they aren’t naturally. But it’s a fun surprise when you get home and notice what was going on color-reflection-wise while you were photographing the bird.

The thing that caught my eye when I first saw this bird was that it had been in water soon before perching on the tree because his chest feathers were showing a lot of detail (that moment between not soaked and wet enough for them to separate). And who can resist a bird that c***s its head and cheekily “waves” goodbye when you and your camera move on??!

And a little FYI moment – despite recent legislative attempts to change it to the American Flamingo, the Northern Mockingbird remains Florida’s state bird and has been since 1927.

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06/02/2026

FIELD NOTES (6.2.26): The Small Things … and The Light

Some mornings it’s all about closeup bird feathers and eyes, and other mornings it’s about that small, sweet bird set in a moment … but it’s always about the light.

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06/01/2026

FIELD NOTES (6.1.26): Juvenile in Flight

As much as I enjoy photographing adult White Ibises with their sometimes wacky/sometimes elegant behaviors, my hands-down favorite is the juvenile White Ibis like this one – partly brown and partly white, with a magnificent dusty-orange bill.

This one reminded me of one of my favorite animals – a brown and white cow (albeit a flying one here). Look closely (or maybe squint) … you’ll see it!

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05/31/2026

FIELD NOTES (5.31.26): Stretch …

Here’s what happens when a Great Blue Heron subliminally says as you’re photographing him:

“You will NOT CROP even the tiniest bit of this photo. I will shine in my full splendor, filling the frame from border to border – side to side, and top to bottom!” (that is, if a Great Blue Heron could talk…)

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05/30/2026

FIELD NOTES (5.30.26): Frightening Squirrels – Yikes

So, I’ve posted it before and I’ll post it again – squirrels 100% freak me out! If they’re hanging in a tree over my head, my mind says it’s only mere seconds until my jugular is visited! And if they’re on the ground, ditto but for my ankles!

And yet having said this, I seem to take a lot of photos of squirrels – go figure?? Here are a couple I recently encountered (fortunately only with my camera and not with any body parts)!

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05/29/2026

FIELD NOTES (5.29.26): Ah, Green, Everywhere You Look

South Florida has been in serious drought conditions during 2026, and until recently, brown (as in dried and dead) was the new green.

However, finally we’ve started receiving some rain over the past couple of weeks – and today was a good example of how much all the water is helping because it was green, green, green as far as the eye could see!

All the photos in today’s post are from this morning where lush, vibrant green was the color of the day. The birds seemed as happy about it as the people!

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05/27/2026

FIELD NOTES (5.27.26): Black-throated Anhinga

As many photos as I’ve taken of Anhingas, I was surprised to be surprised by the look of this one with its black-as-night neck and throat. When he opened his mouth, it looked like wet tar easily could have erupted, but from what I’ve found online, this look is not unusual for an adult male Anhinga. (Guess the ones I’ve seen with their mouths so wide open mostly have been females and juveniles!)

The Anhinga was in full breeding mode as evidenced by the iridescent, turquoise blue “eyeshadow” surrounding his eyes – and which really complemented the ruby-red eyeballs. I also was fascinated by such a closeup look at his yellow-orange webbed feet, which get even brighter during breeding season. Interestingly, unlike most waterbirds, Anhingas have totipalmate feet, which means that all four toes, including the back one, are connected by a single web. For me, the textured feet just looked like a basketball!

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05/24/2026

FIELD NOTES (5.24.26): A Cardinal Couple

This Northern Cardinal couple flew from tree to tree and bush to bush – never too close to each other, but never too far apart either.

The setting was a light-dappled stand of thick trees and bushes, and even though I had a challenging time getting clean shots because they were so active in the vegetation, they seemed to always know where the other was located and would close the gap if it became too distant.

Northern Cardinals usually mate for life, unless one member of the pair dies. For those who may not know, the bright red one is the male, and the brownish red one is the female. They’re both beautiful birds with their own special looks. In the shot of the female eating a leaf, her tail feathers in the background look like a fancy, pleated skirt. And the male stopped flitting from place to place just long enough for me to get his photo looking quite regal.

Can you ever go wrong with the red and green color combination??! It’s one of my favorites, and not just because of Christmas.

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05/22/2026

FIELD NOTES (5.21.26): Photo Dump

Tonight’s post has some unrelated shots of recent birds – a Tricolored Heron stalking through the reeds and grasses; a Great Egret soon after takeoff over a small spit of sand; and a Boat-tailed Grackle sitting silently with his mouth wide open. Enjoy!

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05/19/2026

FIELD NOTES (5.19.26): Oh (yikes) … Hello There, Mr. Iguana

A pretty Anhinga perched on a tree limb had caught my eye, and I was moving through thick vegetation to get a better shot of it when … I happened upon this iguana and caught myself before coming even closer to it. Since the harrowing experience when an aggressive one charged at me almost two years ago, I tread lightly and softly in the presence of iguanas (who frequent south Florida where I live).

If you’re interested in what happened that day (and the mistakes I made and learned from), check out my Instagram and Facebook posts (narrative and photos) from September 7 & 8, 2024. And while I still will concede they’re interesting creatures with their look of “encrusted gemstones,” I would be lying if I said they don’t freak me out to this day!

Actually, I’m not sure why that previous one didn’t bite me … I remember wincing in anticipation and preparing for the bite as he charged at me ultimately coming mere inches from my bare legs. He was very angry, and I was even more scared. And now I’m starting to think about THAT day and THAT iguana … so let’s just stick with today’s post and call it done!

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