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The setting sun as the year comes to an end seems like an appropriate image
to greet to you to this month's issue of Whispers.
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Greetings
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Welcome to December's issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your cyber nature centre.
It's hard to believe that the year is coming to a close and 2009 is just around the corner. It's even harder to believe that we're entering the 3rd year of the Inn being online!
Many thanks for subscribing to our newsletter and visiting our website. We hope you enjoy what you find.
Welcome once again to our new subscribers and to our old faithful ones, many thanks for your support and enthusiasm.
We send this newsletter wishing everyone the very best of the holiday season and the warmest of wishes for 2009!
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Trivia Time
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We start off each month with a trivia question:
Many animals that look identical to us and it's hard to tell one from another. There is a group of mammals in North America that look the same to each other too! To tell each other apart they "kiss" when they meet each other. Now what could this critter be?
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.
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| New Features at the Inn
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Once again we've had a very busy time at the Inn since our last newsletter. Here are the latest additions. Just click on the images to go directly to the page.
 Close Ups in Nature
After zooming in and cropping, can you identify what these fascinating patterns, designs and textures found in nature are?
 More Close Ups in Nature
Is it a plant, a bird, a furry critter or a rock? Here are several more cropped close-ups featuring designs and patterns in nature.
 Echoes of the Wild
A new section featuring some of the special moments in the wild we've been fortunate enough to experience.
 Stunning Shrubs Photo Gallery
The flowers and fruits of over two dozen shrubs are featured in this new gallery.  The Sporting Games
Join us for a rare, behind-the-scenes, humourous and tongue-in-cheek tale of animals and their love of sports.
 Wildbirds Photo Gallery #2
Our second wildbird photo gallery features over 30 images for you to peruse.
 Wildflowers Photo Gallery #2
Our second gallery of wildflowers includes over two dozen images from the deserts to the forests.
To see the latest postings at the Inn as they are added, visit the news and updates page.
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Contributed by... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a community of nature enthusiasts exchanging ideas, stories, tips and images, we invite you to submit nature images to this part of our monthly newsletter.
Once again we have two contributions.
Jackie Muncy, of Palmer, Alaska, submitted this image taken during a freezing fog. The resulting frost covered the spruce branches and grew to great lengths creating a dazzling display of ice crystals.
Below, a Mute Swan on North Carolina Lake was submitted by frequent contributor, Steve Slayton.
Jackie and Steve, thank-you for submitting your super photographs! If you'd like to see your image as part of our members' section, simply send us an e-mail. |
| Monthly Selections
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each month we select a bird, bug and wildflower of the month. Here are this month's choices:
Click on the images to visit the page and don't forget that we welcome your suggestions for future selections, even if you don't have an image to supply for us. Please send your ideas to us by e-mail.
And a reminder that the year's archives for each are just a click away:
Wildflower Archives | Bug Archives | Bird Archives |
The Wandering Image
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Our wandering image this month takes us to the sunny days of summer with a Black-tailed Deer amongst the Campion flowers.
The Black-tailed is also called the Mule Deer (because of its mule-like ears.) It is one of two deers of North America, the second one being the White-tailed Deer.
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Snippets in Nature ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This month we leave the chilly days of winter and take a summer visit to Yellowstone National Park.
This is a place of canyons, geysers and wildlife, like the bison below, wallowing in a dust bowl. If you have not had the pleasure to visit, we invite you to explore more of Yellowstone in the Inn's section of Special Places of the Natural World.
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| Caption This!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each month we would like to invite you to submit a funny caption to go with one of the images in our "Caption This!" collection. Can you think of a caption to go with this pollen laden bee?
Here are some ideas we came up with: Number one: "How much more do we need?" Number two: "Can someone show me the way home?" If you have a suggestion that will make us chuckle, please, send us 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 |
| Nature Notes
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| Stories Behind the Pictures
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The story behind this image concerns the patience and determination of the Great Blue Heron. While observing the bird it came up with a fish tangled up in seaweed. This told us to keep taking pictures.
Needing to remove the seaweed the heron waded ashore shaking his head and loosening the seaweed. Once on the shore, it dropped the fish and picked it up again without the extra salad. This sequence was recorded and shown in The Heron and his Lunch.
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| Tips from the Inn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This month's tip will help you get some great images for next year's seasonal cards.
When it's time to take down the wreath, or if you make an extra one for this tip, hang it up outside in a handy location where you can get a picture. Place a few extra berries in amongst the leaves, etc. When the birds arrive for a snack, you simply take a few photographs. If the weather is a little chilly with snow and frost about, it makes for a very interesting card.
Good luck!
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Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man walks into a bar with a newt on his shoulder.
He says, "I'll have a scotch and a beer for 'Tiny' here".
The bartender says, "Why do you call him Tiny?"
The man replies "Because he's my newt!"
This marmot didn't think much of this month's joke! |
| Notes from Around the Inn
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As the chilly, frosty weather arrives for many of us, remember that the birds still love fresh and unfrozen water throughout the winter months. They will appreciate the water as much as this Varied Thrush does.
Add a Google Gadget to Your iGoggle Homepage
You can now add a gadget to your iGoogle homepage featuring images from the our website. It's colourful, free and easy. For more information visit the Inn's Add a Google Gadget page.
Search the Inn
You may have noticed that we're adding search boxes on several pages. These allow you to search the Inn quickly for a topic, information or image quickly. Try them out!
Book Recommendations
You may have noticed that we've been placing more and more featured books on our various pages. We receive a very small commission from anything purchased through the Inn on Amazon.ca or Amazon.com - not just recommended books - which all helps pay for our webspace and other expenses. So please, shop with us and support our project!
Pay-Pal Accepted - or a cheque!
We have had a few people inquire about donating to help with our costs. Apart from making a purchase through amazon.ca or amazon.com (see above) you can help out by making a credit card donation through Pay Pal. Just click on the Pay Pal logo on the main home page or site map. If you don't want to use a credit card and would prefer a contribution by cheque, simply e-mail us or write to address at the bottom of this newsletter and we'll be happy to send the details for that to you. Thanks again for your support!
Suggestions, Ideas and Feedback
We invite and welcome your contributions, thoughts and comments. Please, take a moment to send us an e-mail.
If you're a new subscriber to Whispers you might be interested to know that past issues are available online - simply click here. We upload the issues as new ones are released, so as you receive this edition we will be uploading last month's issue. Next Issue
Our next issue will be in your Inbox in the first week of January. See you then! |
| Trivia Answer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Although not usually caught up a tree, Prairie Dogs love to "kiss" when they meet.
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Spread the Word ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please spread the word about our project by passing on our website information to friends and other nature lovers. You can also forward this newsletter by clicking on the "forward e-mail" link at the bottom of this newsletter.
Any other ideas and suggestions are always welcome. Send us an e-mail!
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