Greetings

Hello everyone once again and welcome to the latest issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your virtual nature centre. 

Many thanks for subscribing; we really appreciate your support.  We have a few new subscribers this month and would like to say a special hello to you.  
  

We would like to remind you also that we are now on Facebook and invite you to post comments and photographs.
 

Trivia Time

Which bird sits down to bathe?
 
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.

Here are the latest additions at the Inn.  Just click on the images and you'll be taken straight to the page. 
 
 

Special Places in the Natural World: Great Basin National Park
Take a virtual tour of this amazing place in Nevada.

 




Ice Cream Cone Feeder Project

In this simple project an ice cream cone is smothered with peanut butter and bird seed to make an interesting feeder.

  

 

This gallery has a variety of colourful wildflowers from our photo library.

Find the latest additions on the news/updates page.

  

We invite you to submit nature photographs to this section. We've got another great selection this month.

From Shahbaz Hasan of Karachi, Pakistan a rainbow

over Karachi which is a rather rare sighting there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are this month's choices: 
Bug - Spilomyia interrupta; Wildflower - Gumweed; Bird - Muscovy Duck.

    

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

Giant Acorn Barnacle, Balanus nubilus

Barnacles close up when the tides go out and wait patiently for the water to return.  Then they feed incessantly on drifting plankton by waving about a hand-like appendage called a cirri.  They will quickly close up when a predator or even a shadow appears.

Here's our monthly image ready for your humourous caption along with a couple of our ideas.

If this photo inspires you, 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
 

Winyah Bay near Georgetown, South Carolina by Deb Smith of Summerville, SC 

We invite you to send us pictures of your favourite places in nature for this section.  It could be of a favourite pond, waterfall or forest trail.  Perhaps it's a valley, mountain, coastal scene or special national park holiday destination.  

thank you Deb for your submission!

If you think you have a suitable photograph please send us an e-mail along
with a brief explanation.  We look forward to your ideas and submissions.

It can be easy to get birds to perch in a particular spot so that you can get some good photographs.  Using a natural prop and some food as a bribe is one method. 

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
We upload past issues of Whispers as new ones are issued.  You can view them all with a simple click here.  

Did you know that you can sometimes tell whether an insect is male or female by the eyes?  The eyes of the male (left) Hover Fly, Eupeodes sp., are close together, just about touching.  The female's eyes are further apart.

  

Thanks for reading this month's newsletter. 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.

Your ideas and suggestions are always welcome, send us an e-mail.

Watch for the next issue of Whispers in your inbox during the first week of March.  See you then!