Bev Paulan
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bpaulan.bsky.social
Bev Paulan
@bpaulan.bsky.social
530 followers 870 following 390 posts
Former crane mama, current conservation pilot, environmental educator and lover of
🦇🐝🦋🪶🌼🐸
All photos my own unless otherwise credited.
Being kind is a choice. Getting more liberal every day.
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bpaulan.bsky.social
A first instar Monarch butterfly caterpillar on Common milkweed. When the cats hatch, they turn around and eat the egg they just emerged from. Definitely fits #BlueSkyArtShow theme of #small
#bugsky
A very wee caterpillar, white with a black head, eats a translucent eggshell while sitting on a fuzzy milky green leaf
November 23, 2025 at 1:38 AM
bpaulan.bsky.social
A little late, but here's my post for #BirdoftheDay alternate theme of #silhouette. A Brown pelican at sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.
A view of the sun setting over the Gulf of Mexico. The cloudy sky reflects the orange of the sliver of sun that is sinking below the horizon. The water is mostly dark with some orange highlights. A lone bird flies across the scene, silhouetted.
November 23, 2025 at 12:31 AM
bpaulan.bsky.social
For #NightmareNov and the theme of #teeth, something guaranteed to interrupt one's sleep.
A brown, long-haired monkey with a very red face sits in a hot pool. It has snow on its head and it is visibly upset. Its mouth is open, showing yellowed teeth, and seems to be screaming.
November 17, 2025 at 7:57 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
One last image for today's #BirdoftheDay theme of #standingonthings. A House wren standing on a shepherd's crook with a damselfly in its beak for its waiting chick. 🪶
A small brown bird sits on a curved metal pipe. It sits sideways to the camera, facing right, and has a long slender insect in its beak. The background is blurred green.
November 10, 2025 at 1:15 AM
bpaulan.bsky.social
Red-winged blackbirds seem to love #sittingonthings other than the ground. #BirdoftheDay 🪶
A brown stripey birds stands on the head of a wooden whirligig painted to look like a Whooping crane - white with red on its head and a black mustache. The background is blurred green grasses. There are 3 purple flowers seen on the lower right. A brown stripey bird sits on the head of a brown deer. The background is dappled green and brown vegetation
November 9, 2025 at 7:48 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
An adult Sharp-shinned hawk, Accipiter striatus, sits on a bluebird house for today's #BirdoftheDay. My yard, northern Illinois. 🪶
A gray bird with rusty colored stripes on its chest and belly, sits on top of a small wooden birdhouse. There is a much larger birdhouse in the background. Water with green vegetation forms the blurred background.
November 9, 2025 at 3:39 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
For #BlueSkyArtShow, a beautiful sunset. May your #evening be as peaceful.
A lake scene at sunset. A tree frames the scene on the left and top of the image. A boat pier juts into the lake at a 45 degree angle from the bottom left c I rner. The sky is dark blue with orange and pink clouds. The lake reflects the sky's colors.
November 9, 2025 at 12:11 AM
bpaulan.bsky.social
Wood ducks are cavity nesters and frequently use nest boxes. After the ducklings hatch, the next day, after the female ensures it is safe, the ducklings jump out of the box to start their adventurous life. Photos taken in my yard. #Birdoftheday theme #takeoff 🪶
A brown duck with iridescent green wing bars & a white eye ring, flies to the right of the frame after leaving her nest box which is on the left of the frame A small, fuzxy brown & yellow duckling leaps free of its nest box. It is in a front down, horizontal posture with little wing nubs sticking straight out
November 9, 2025 at 12:05 AM
bpaulan.bsky.social
For today's #BirdoftheDay theme of #closeup, here is a preening Gentoo penguin. The gland is a uropygial gland that secretes oil. By preening the oil into their feathers, penguins stay waterproof and warm. 🪶
A close-up of a black and white bird. The bird has its body contorted putting its beak just above its tail. A pink colored gland is seen just under the feathets.
November 6, 2025 at 1:11 AM
bpaulan.bsky.social
#goodmorning from northern Illinois. The election results from yesterday give me hope. I feel a little less tension, a little lighter even. Let's right this ship. #letsgo
Orange clouds from the rising sun fill the sky and are reflected in a still stream. Dark trees bisect the scene
November 5, 2025 at 12:43 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
OMG I can't believe who has decided to grace my kitchen with its presence. My all time favorite insect - a mantidfly! Say's mantidfly, Dicromantispa sayii. Huge bonus that it'll eat the fruit flies. (I'm in northern IL and they don't survive the winter, so its free to live inside with me.) #Bugsky 🪲
A strange looking insect, looking like a crosd between a Praying mantis and a wasp, sits on a wooden frame against a wood panel
October 27, 2025 at 11:53 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
A female Woodduck taking a drink. Or is she admiring her own reflection? #BirdoftheDay theme of #ducks 🪶
A scene on a creek. A bare tree branch lays in thr water with a brown duck sitting on it. The duck is tipped forward with its beak in the water taking a drink. The scene is perfectly reflected in tge calm water making it appear as if the duck is kissing her reflection.
October 27, 2025 at 11:42 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
Today's theme of #inside for #BlueSkyArtShow got me looking at my archives. This one is from 2022. Inside an old mining house in the UP of Michigan
A picture of a room with a dark wood cupboard with green door insets sits against a gray wall. Next to it is a red wooden chair. A flight of stairs can be seen on the very right edge of the frame. The light comes in an unseen window illuminating the red chair.
October 26, 2025 at 2:08 AM
bpaulan.bsky.social
I am very appreciative of both @alan678.bsky.social and @robcrank68.bsky.social for doing the #BirdoftheDay. Its been fun to go through my archives and has given me a goal for the winter -- to get out and photograph more birds.
Today's theme of #droplets. Belted kingfisher in northern Illinois.
A gray, white and orange bird sits on a branch having just shaken water off her feathers. Water droplets fill the air and sparkle in the light.
October 14, 2025 at 12:17 AM
bpaulan.bsky.social
I have always loved all things with #wings. But some definitely more than others. Red headed woodpecker for #BirdoftheDay
A black and white bird with a red head and silvery beak, flies from right to left across a green background. The bird has a peanut in its beak.
October 13, 2025 at 10:56 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
#goodmorning from northeastern Illinois. A spectacular start to the day. May your day reflect the beauty and peace of a sunrise.
#nature #photgraphy
Sunrise is reflecting on a layer of clouds turning them vivid orange. A tree line bisects the frame with the sky reflected in water below the trees
October 13, 2025 at 12:33 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
One of my favorite images. A Tufted titmouse with something to say for today's #BirdoftheDay theme of any bird in the Paridae family. 🪶
A small gray bird with a slight peach colored tint on its side, sits on a branch with its head tilted back and beak open. It is surrounded by green leaves
October 13, 2025 at 1:10 AM
bpaulan.bsky.social
One of the most beautifuls tits I have seen. The Varied tit. From my archives. Taken in a Tokyo park in 2014. #BirdoftheDay 🪶
Against a blurred brown back ground, a small roundish gray and orange bird with a black and white face, sits on a stick looking out to the viewer's right.
October 12, 2025 at 11:33 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
A Green heron attempting to swallow a fish seems to qualify for #BirdoftheDay theme of #beakful. Also, #wader. A twofer!
A green and brown small heron has a fish halfway down its throat. The tail of the fish sticks out of the beak. The bird stands on a green mudbank with 2 fallen logs lying horizontally behind the bird
October 11, 2025 at 10:57 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
More young birds for #BirdoftheDay. Yellow-shafted Northern flicker and chicks.🪶
A brown spitted bird with a black moustache and red patch on the back of his head clings to the side of a tree. Two young birds of the same species poke their heads out of a hole in the same tree with open beaks begging to be fed
October 10, 2025 at 11:30 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
Since it is Friday and this week seemed verrrry long, I think y'all could use something cute. Canada goose goslings for #BirdoftheDay theme of #chick. 🪶
2 fuzzy yellow and brown goslings face each other. One is standing & one is lying.
October 10, 2025 at 10:19 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
I have worked on a crane project for almost 20 years and will not apologize for continuously posting photos of both North American species. 😆
#BirdoftheDay theme of #chick
A very tall and a very small brown bird stand facing each other in a field composed of green grasses and yellow flowers.
October 10, 2025 at 7:55 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
#GoodMorning from northern Illinois. An awe inspiring sunrise to start my Friday. Sets the tone for a great day.
October 10, 2025 at 1:21 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
I think I was #spotted. Tufted titmouse trying to figure out what the great big single eye was - friend or foe.
#BirdoftheDay 🪶
A bird perches on a branch and bends all the way foreward to look backwards between its legs. The background is mottled green.
October 9, 2025 at 11:08 PM
bpaulan.bsky.social
More Sandhill cranes stage up prior to #migration. Central Wisconsin. (Might have to tap image for full effect.) #BirdoftheDay. 🪶
An autumnal field is filled with tall gray birds.
October 8, 2025 at 12:54 AM