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Welcome to April's issue of the Dereila Nature Inn newsletter.

      
You are welcomed this month by a beautiful Spring Azure Butterfly, Celastrina ladon.
Greetings
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Hello everybody and welcome to the latest issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your virtual nature centre. 

We hope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying some lovely spring days. We have been busy at the Inn and have lots of new features to tell you about this month as well as some trivia, a joke about a robin and some great photographs that have been sent in.  Plus we have two special events running this month: The Earth Day Photographic Extravaganza and our Nest Box Festival. You'll find more information about them in the News from the Inn section of this newsletter.
  
Many thanks for subscribing and being part of our project. We hope you'll enjoy this issue. 
  
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Please join us on Facebook where we welcome your comments and feedback.
Trivia Time
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Parts of which tree did coastal first nations people use to weave baskets and make fishing nets?
 
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.
What's This?  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you know what this cropped close-up photograph is?

 
For more of this type of mystery solving,
be sure to visit our pages of Close-ups in Nature.
New Features at the Inn
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Here are the latest additions at the Inn.  Just click on the images and you'll be taken straight to the page.

At-A-Glance Guide to Poisonous Plants
These plants defend themselves by producing unpleasant and sometimes dangerous chemicals.
Click to visit  
Two Halves Suet Cake Holder
This feeder is great when you have lots of suet-loving birds visiting at the same time. Click to visit   
Upside-down Feeder
This project makes a feeder for birds that enjoy feeding upside down.
  Click to visit
Platform Nest Box for Robins
This project makes a platform nesting box for American Robins. 
  Click to visit  
At-A-Glance Guide to Edible Plants
Here is a collection of interesting edible plants. 
  Click to visit  
Find the latest additions posted at the Inn on the news/updates page.
Contributed by...
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We continue to be very impressed with the amazing nature
photographs that are sent in every month for this section.

Abertina Pianarosa of Ottawa, Ontario, spotted
these pretty Ladyslippers on Manitou Mountain, Ontario. 
 

This wonderful Great Horned Owl was taken in the World Bird Sanctuary
in St. Louis, Missouri, by Jim Noeninger of Shiloh, Illinois.

 
Jim also spotted this well-camouflaged deer in the forest.

 

This soaring Red-tailed Hawk comes to us from Susan Asis Kalman,
Flushing, New York. It was taken in Steptoe County, eastern Washington.

Steve Slayton, Lawrenceville, Georgia, contributed
this photograph of a delicate Olive Sparrow.

Thank you so very much for sending in these wonderful pictures for us all to enjoy.

If you would like to see your nature images in our members' section,
simply send us an e-mail. We'd love to hear from you.  
Monthly Selections 
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Here are this month's choices:
Bug - Mourning Cloak | Wildflower - Fringed Grass-of-Parnassus | Bird - Ruby-crowned Kinglet

                             
 
Simply click on the images to visit the pages.
You can also check out the archives as they're just a click away:

Wildflower Archives | Bug Archives | Bird Archives

 

OUR MONTHLY PAGE

This month's feature page is a Tale from the Deck called Breakfast for the Birds. It's one of over 45 pages that are part of our All Things Natural Restaurant section.  Drop on by and see some of the visiting birds and the foods they prefer.  

Click to visit    

 The Wandering Image
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This month we didn't have to wonder too far.
 
 
A generally shy and elusive Hermit Thrush makes a
quick dash to grab an offered berry snack.
Caption This! 
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What do you think would be a wonderful caption for this photo of two American Robins and some berries? As usual, we've given you a couple of ideas to help get you thinking.
  

   
Number one: "These are mine! Why don't you go and eat that other bunch."
Number two: "I don't think these berries grow right here." 

If this month's photo inspires you, please send us your caption in an e-mail.
We'd love to hear from you and add your caption to our collection.

You can visit the rest of the collections at the Inn:
The Mammals| The Birds | The Insects

Snippets in Nature
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In this month's snippet we go to a wonderfully lush area thanks to Marilyn Flanagan of Florida. This is Jenkins Creek Park in Florida which is a 3-acre area with natural freshwater springs and what looks like an extraordinary place to explore and discover all sorts of nature and wildlife.
    
If you think you have a suitable nature photograph for this section please send us an e-mail
along with a brief explanation. We look forward to your submissions.
Behind the Name 
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Smooth Hawksbeard, Crepis capillaris, is a native plant of Europe and a member of the Aster family of plants. The genus part of its scientific name, Crepis, comes from the Greek word krepis, which means "sandal" and is probably a reference to the leaves which are deeply cut and ressemble the thongs of a sandal. Capillaris means "very slender," a reference to either the shape of its fruit or its stem.
Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       A young robin had just finished his first week school. 
       "How is school going, Junior?" asked Grandma. 
       "I'm just wasting my time," the frustrated youngster replied. "I can't read, I can't write and they won't let me talk!"

  

"Sounds like it is definitely a waste of time."
 Notes, News and Tips from Around the Inn
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Facebook
Find us on Facebook
We invite you to post comments on our Facebook page.  To visit, just click on the logo or here.
  
Guestbook
We recently added a guestbook to the Nature Inn and welcome your comments on your next visit.  You can also find it here.

Nest Box Festival is in Full Swing
  
  Don't forget to join in our Nest Box Festival that started on April 1.
For full details, click here.
  
Celebrate Earth Day
  
We invite you to send in nature photos and be part of our 6th annual Earth Day Photographic Extravaganza!  For all the information you'll need, just click here.

A Little Reminder
   
Birds use all sorts of materials to build their nests as you can see
from this amazing creation built by some small bushtits. 
You can help out busy birds by supplying them with some nesting
material such as dog hair and laundry dryer fluff. 
Learn how to make a holder for this material clicking here.

Tips from the Inn
 We noticed that a pretty Spotted Towhee always perched for a few
moments in the same spots on its way to the seed table. 
  
 It chose to land on the top of this decking rail and would
then hop onto the flower pot holder. This was a good chance to get
a photograph or two but scene wasn't really a very natural-looking.
  
 It seemed a good time to use one of nature's props, in this case an old log. 
  
  
 The Spotted Towhee arrived and perched, not disturbed 
in the least bit by the log (or the visiting junco).
  
 Now was the perfect time to get some great pictures!
  
Picture of the Week
Picture of the Week 
Be sure to drop by the Inn every week to see the latest Picture of the Week. You can also do so by clicking on the image to the left or by clicking here.

 
  

Past Issues
 Click to visit the archives.
We upload past issues of Whispers as new ones are issued.  You can view them all with a simple click here
 
  

Celebrating Nature

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Canadians celebrate their National Wildlife Week during
the week of April 10 which is April 8 - 14 this year. Click here for more details
 

 
Earth Day is one of our favourite celebrations at the Inn.
Click here for full details. We are celebrating and invite you to join in!
Be part of our Earth Day Photographic Extravaganza - just click here.

 
Celebrate Arbour Day on April 25. 
Click here for information.
 

Did You Know... 
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 Did you know that bees can communicate with each other through combinations of sounds and dance? This fascinating ability allows them to tell other bees such things as the distance and direction of food.

State and Provincial Symbols
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Arkansas and Mississippi have both chosen the Mockingbird as their official state bird. 

To see our collection of provincial and state birds click here.

Trivia Answer 
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The mighty Western Red Cedar provided materials for
first nations people to make fishing nets and weave baskets.

What's This? 
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This month's mystery photograph was part of the tail of a magnificent peacock,
the national bird of India and a member of the pheasant family of birds.
Nature Notes
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Click and learn more about bugs   

Spread the Word ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We hope you've enjoyed our newsletter for this month and that you'll forward it on to your nature-loving friends. Until next time may you enjoy many wonderful encounters of nature.

We hope you'll watch for the next issue of Whispers in your inbox in May. See you then!