|
Welcome to February's issue of the Dereila Nature Inn newsletter.
The babbling Goldstream River flows through the temperate rainforest
on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
|
Greetings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello once again!
Welcome to another issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your virtual nature centre. Many thanks for subscribing and being part of our online nature community. We hope you enjoy this issue with its photographs, trivia, news and information.
 Please join us on Facebook where we welcome your comments and ideas. |
|
Trivia Time
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Which insect is named for its fierce jaws which are used to catch prey?
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.
|
What's This? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you know what this cropped close-up photograph is? You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.
|
| New Features at the Inn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are the latest additions at the Inn. Just click on the images and you'll be taken straight to the page. Wooden Berry Feeder
This simple double berry feeder lets you hang a few bunches of berries for berry-loving birds Simple Wooden Feeder
This is an easy feeder to construct and hopefully make those berry-eating birds happy.
 Find the latest additions on the news/updates page.
|
|
Contributed by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We invite you to submit nature photographs to this section. This month we have another super variety of nature images. Wood Stork, Mycteria americana,
Marilyn Flanagan, Florida.
White Ibis, Eudocimus albus,
Judy Howle, Columbus, Mississippi.
Female Common Blue Butterfly, Polyommatus icarus,
Eileen, West Lothian, Scotland.
Female Reed Bunting, Emberiza schoeniclus, Laura, South Edinburgh, Scotland.
Painted Turtle with a super reflection,
Heman Veenendall, St Mary's, Ontario.
Black Rat Snake. Taken in the Ballard Nature Center, Altamont, Illinois, by Jim Noeninger Thanks so much everyone! We really appreciate you taking the time to send in these fantastic photographs. 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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are this month's choices: Bug - Western Tiger Swallowtail; Wildflower - Desert Ruellia; Bird - Pine Siskin   
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 is called "Mosses at a Glance." It features a huge variety of mosses. You'll be surprised at the amazing variety of colours, patterns and textures
Visit the page by clicking here.
We have numerous At-A-Glance pages including flowers, birds, mammals, insects and marine life. Find them all by clicking here.
|
| The Wandering Image
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This month we check out the bird feeding station. 
This bird was hard to identify. It turns out it is a strangely coloured House Finch. A little one of nature's quirks to keep us all fascinated and curious.
|
| Caption This!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's our monthly image ready for your humourous caption along with a couple of our ideas.
Number one: "Hey! I'm in charge here!" Number two: "Did you hear the one about...?"
If this month's 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 |
|
Snippets in Nature
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A mysterious rock formation is found in Carson Lake Park, west of Barry's Bay, Ontario. This photograph was taken by Albertina Pianarosa of Ottawa, Ontario. 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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Mountain Marsh Marigold, Caltha leptosepala, is a member of the buttercup family of plants. Caltha comes from the Greek word kalathos which means goblet and is in reference to the flower's shape. Leptosepala also comes from Greek words. Lepto means thin or narrow and sepala refers to the sepals.
|
|
Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A coyote driving his car was stopped by the police.
"What are these matches and lighter fluid and those clubs doing in your car?" asked the cop.
"I'm a juggler and I juggle flaming torches in my act," answered the coyote.
"Oh yeah?" said the doubtful cop. "Let's see you do it."
The coyote started juggling the blazing torches masterfully. A couple driving by slowed down to watch.
"Wow," said the driver to his wife. "I'm glad I quit drinking. Look at the test they're giving now!"
"What else can you do with them?"
|
| Notes, News and Tips from Around the Inn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Facebook
 We invite you to post comments on our Facebook page. To visit, just click on the logo or here.
A Little Reminder
 In some areas nesting time comes early. Now is a good time to collect and even put out nesting materials for these birds. Here an Anna's Hummingbird collects the fluff from some bulrushes that were saved and put out.
Tips from the Inn
Many naturalists go out into the field with a small, pocket-sized magnifier. These are useful for identifying mosses, lichens and fungi and can also be helpful with photography.
For this image the camera was set at the macro setting.
It's a straight-forward picture - nothing too special.
It might have been possible to have gotten a little closer.
Without moving the subject or the camera, the magnifier was held in front of the lens and another photo was taken. You might want to experiment and use this tip when photographing mosses and lichens.
Get an iGoogle Gadget
If you have an iGoogle page, why not add the Inn's image gadget to it? Here's a sample:
To get going with this, just click here.
Photo Notecards Now on Sale!
To help pay for the costs of running the Inn website and providing this newsletter we are now selling a selection of blank photo note cards. We have two sets - birds and special places and will be adding more in the future. They cost only $3 each or a real deal at 4 for $10 with free postage! For more information and to place an order using PayPal, please click here.
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
We upload past issues of Whispers as new ones are issued. You can view them all with a simple click here.
|
|
Great Rivers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This beautiful scene is the mouth of the Khutze River at Khutze Inlet, British Columbia.
Thank you Heman Veenendall of St. Mary's, Ontario, for sending this in to us.
|
Did You Know...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you know that the Caribou, Rangifer tarandus, eats moss as well as lichens? The moss has little nutritional value but it contains a special chemical that helps keep the animal's body fluids warm and helps them survive their cold Arctic treks.
|
| State and Provincial Symbols
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The official state bird of Hawaii is a goose: the Nene, Branta sandvicensis.
To see our collection of state and provincial birds just click here.
|
| Trivia Answer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Dragonfly has fierce jaws - just a like dragon!
|
| What's This?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This month's close-up image is the tiny flowers of a Salal shrub, Gaultheria shallon.
|
| Nature Notes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
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.
Watch for the next issue of Whispers in your inbox during the first week of March. See you then!
|
|
