Paula Whyman

@paulawhyman

Author, BAD NATURALIST: One Woman's Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop, Timber Press/Hachette, 2025. Paperback coming 8/11/26! Website: Newsletter:

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Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· 7d

Grass spider in my basement wants to play. (See pic with mousetrap for scale. If there was a mouse, spider probably ate it.) 🌿

Very large grass spider on concrete floor with mousetrap nearby for scale

Close up of large grass spider on concrete floor. Seen from above. Has a tan stripe on its body with two black stripes. Legs are skinny and very long

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· 11d

Fog

The view out a window with a bit of roof overhang showing. Trees are dimly discernible in the bottom half in the dense fog. But mostly there is nothing but white sky.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· 18d

New friend. Never seems to want to leave my side.

Large wolf spider close up, seen from above. Brown and black with light colored stripes. On wood floor

Large wolf spider partly in shadow around a foot away from a foot in a sandal, only tips of big toe and second toe visible

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· 23d

The paperback edition of BAD NATURALIST is here!!! 🌿#books

Front cover of the paperback shows a landscape of the meadow with a mountain in the background. the words bad naturalist are in pink and they are arranged so they look like they are wandering down a path from the top left to the bottom right. The subtitle is in white: "my ecological education on a wild mountain top" and in pink, the author name, and below that "finalist for the Philip D Reed, environmental writing award." At the top of the cover is the quote from Doug Tallamy: "self-deprecating, humorous, and thoroughly engaging.

The main title page has a two page spread black-and-white photo of the large white oak seen in winter, looking like a silhouette with bare branches, in the middle of a field with winter meadow in foreground. The oak is on the left-hand page and on the right hand page the title and subtitle are floating in the sky, and the author name and publisher are at the bottom of the page printed across the field.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· 24d

Groundhog Day? 🌿

A groundhog seen through a window. Tall, dense plants in the background, including a lot of horseweed.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· 27d

Spotted this pink Queen Anne's lace volunteer in the meadow – – all of the others have white flowers (and to be clear I didn't plant any of it since it's not native here) 🌿

Pink Queen Anne's lace, surrounded by timothy and other dense green growth

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jul 12

This is so cool! I have ladies tresses in my VA meadow but may not be the same species. Showed up in a field following a burn and still there three years later.

Tiny white orchid flowers along a partly twisted stem.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jul 8

Indigo bunting 🌿

Small bright blue bird on a wood post surrounded by dense green growth, including yarrow, rattlesnake master, horseweed, and indigo

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jul 8

Rosy maple moth on my window 🌿

A moth seen from the bottom from inside a window, close-up. Its wings are lemon, yellow with rose pink tips and rose splotches on its yellow abdomen. also it's fuzzy. Black background.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jul 7

Daily Poodle #dogs

Silver standard poodle lying on her side on a silver corduroy dog bed with a bolster on three sides. Her body is lined up against the bolster so that it curves around with it. There is a stone floor and a stuffed dog that is brown and stuffed sausage dog that is pink next to the bed.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jul 5

Today's toad 🌿

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jul 4

Morning groundhog 🌿

Groundhog lying flat on the corner of a stone patio in the shade of tall switchgrass.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jul 3

Dog and meadow

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jul 1

Morning goat

A horned goat with black and white striped face
looking directly at the camera. Almost hidden in dense foliage of crownbeard plants and mile a minute vine.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jun 17

Thoroughbreds crossing Union Ave in Saratoga Springs, NY

Two thoroughbreds, a chestnut, and a white cross a road in tandem with jockeys riding, headed for practice track in Saratoga Springs. A man in a fluorescent yellow vest stands in the middle of the road holding a stop sign so that traffic will wait. trees line the streets in the background.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· May 30

Dog baffled as to why I made her try out the sheep bell that I bought at a flea market in Portugal. "But, how will I surprise the rabbits?"

Silver standard poodle, staring at the camera looking genuinely concerned while wearing a large sheep bell on a strap around her neck

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· May 28

Storm coming? 🌿

Tall heavy dark cloud runs parallel to the landscape with a sliver of blue between it and the green land, approaches low over the horizon

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· May 23

A high-voltage power line turned stork apartment building in the Alentejo region, Portugal 🌿#birds

Against a backdrop of thick clouds, a high-powered electrical tower is covered with a dozen large stork nests

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Apr 15

Goat morning

Small white goat with floppy ears stands amid tall brush and looks serenely at the camera

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Apr 9

Prescribed burn happening right now on the mountain! 🌿🌎

Two foresters in fire protective gear, standing with their backs to the camera, holding tools and looking out at a burning field. Smoke is rising and moving to the left in the picture and flames are visible.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Mar 30

A neighbor stopped by 🌿

A wild turkey strolling through the garden off the patio. Tall brush in the background.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Mar 30

Goated!

Woman in blue jacket (me) with brown and white goat checking out whatever is in my pocket. Another goat browses in foreground. Background: trees and brush.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Mar 28

Bluebird on boulder 🌿

Seen from a distance, bluebird perched on large tan and gray mottled boulder surrounded by tall grasses and with orchard cherries in background

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Mar 26

The mother of all black widows hanging out on the basement stairs. Around the size of my thumb but I did not feel like sticking my thumb in there for scale 🤷🏻‍♀️ 🌿

Large black widow spider hanging out in web with red belly marking fully exposed. Indistinct gray and tan background.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Mar 23

First carpenter bee of the season 🌿

Close up of an eastern carpenter bee standing on a wood deck

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Feb 25

Yes, no, no, yes, yes, no

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Feb 22

Above 1000ft here in Rappahannock County, Va, has been snowing for at least a couple of hours.

A 4 foot tall wooden gate with wire mesh fencing. Stone path leading up to it. a landscape of maybe a half inch of snow surrounding path and in field beyond gate. Tall plants stick up above the snow.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jan 31

Moonshadow poodle

Standard poodle standing in a snowy yard facing the camera, with partial stone wall in the background, and clear moonshadow of poodle, tail raised, to her left.

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jan 27

In case you need this, Cleo the Official Mountain Poodle eating snow. (Sound up)

Paula Whyman@paulawhyman· Jan 22