Welcome to February's issue of the Dereila Nature Inn newsletter.
As we approach Spring, running waters from melting snow
carve their way down the side of a hill. |
Greetings
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Hello everybody and welcome once again to another issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your virtual nature centre. In this issue we have a great selection of images that have been sent in for you to enjoy. We also visit the West Kootenay Mountains in British Columbia, have some tips and ideas for you, and take a wander into the forest to see some interesting fungi. We hope you'll enjoy this month's newsletter and we thank you for subscribing and supporting our project with your encouraging comments.  Please join us on Facebook where we welcome your comments and feedback. |
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Trivia Time
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Which creature can sting even when it's dead?
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter. |
What's This? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you know what this cropped close-up photograph is? Put your brain to the test before checking the answer at the end of the newsletter.
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| 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. Close-ups in Nature 15
Here's another selection of close-up photos. Can you figure out what they are?
Nesting Material Project 2
Use an suet cake cage and transform it into an attractive container that can be stuffed with nesting materials for your bird visitors.  |
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Contributed by...
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Every month we are delighted with the photographs submitted to us for this section. Once again we have a terrific selection. Juvenile Green Heron, at Dorian, Ontario, from Herman Veenendall, St Mary's, Ontario.  Mountain Sheep at Chinook Pass, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington by Susan Asis Kalman, Flushing, New York.
Black-billed Magpie in flight from Eileen, West Lothian, Scotland.
A clump of colourful Honey-cap Mushrooms from
Frank and Sandra Horvath, Grimsby, Ontario.
This handsome Turkey was received from Joyce Cahill, Winslow, Arkansas.
Thank you everyone for sending in these great 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.
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| Monthly Selections
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Here are this month's choices:
Bug - Woodlouse Spider; Wildflower - Pinesap; Bird - Dark-slated Junco
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
If you enjoy doing crosswords and jigsaws,
you'll find a huge selection on our Games Room Page.
Great Blue Heron |
| The Wandering Image
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This month we wandered into the forest and found a fascinating fungus.  This interesting fungus has the wonderful name of Jellied Bird's Nest Fungus, Nidula candidi. As you can see, the common name is really appropriate since it resembles tiny bird's nests. If you are in an area where spring comes early, you might want to look out for some of these and other early-season mushrooms. |
| Caption This!
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What do you think these American Robins are saying? We welcome your caption ideas and have supplied two to get you thinking.
Number one: "Give it to me! Give it to me!"
Number two: "Be good or you won't get anything!"
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 |
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Snippets in Nature
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This gorgeous scene, high above the clouds, was taken on a snowshoeing trip by Dave Harper of Langley, British Columbia. Dave went to Grassy Mountain (6500 ft/2000 m) in the West Kootenay Mountains near Castlegar, British Columbia, and was rewarded with a stunning scene. Dave, many thanks for sending this in to us. 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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The Leather-leaved Saxifrage, Leptarrhena pyrolifolia, is a pretty little plant of moist alpine and sub-alpine regions. Its genus name, Leptarrhena, comes from the Greek lepto, meaning "slender" and arrhen, "male." The species name, pyrolifolia, refers to its leaves (folia) and their leathery nature. |
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Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The animals decided to have their own Super Bowl football game. It was set up between the big animals and the little ones.
The big animals were easily winning at half-time, so the coach made a passionate speech to the little animals.
At the start of the second half the big animals had the ball. In the first play, the elephant got stopped with no gain. In the second play, the rhino was also stopped for no gain. On the third down the hippo was thrown for a 5-yard loss.
The defense huddled around the coach and he asked excitedly, "Who stopped the elephant?"
"I did," said the millipede.
"Who stopped the rhino?"
"Uh, that was me, too," said the millipede.
"And how about the hippo? Who hit him for a 5-yard loss?"
"Well, that was me as well."
"So where were you during the first half?" demanded the coach.
"I was having my ankles taped," explained the millipede.
"You have to protect yourself, you know." |
| Notes, News and Tips from Around the Inn
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Facebook
 We invite you to post comments on our Facebook page. To visit, just click on the logo or here.
A Little Reminder
If you have good perching spots at your feeding station, hopefully
you can get some decent photographs of your visitors.
Remember to try and change the backgrounds to get a greater
variety of shots. Experiment by adding a branch with a cone or two
or perhaps a twig with some berries on it.
Tips from the Inn
Some birds, like this Anna's Hummingbird, nest very early in the
season. They will probably appreciate a little help from
you in providing them with some convenient nesting material.
Try placing something like the fluffy seed head of some
bulrushes on your feeding station.
Reptile Images Needed We are hoping you can help us complete our page of official State Reptiles. We are still missing some images and would really appreciate it if you could send in any of the following:
Alabama: Red-bellied Turtle
California: Desert Tortoise
Nevada: Gopher Tortoise
Maryland: Diamondback Terrapin
Missouri: Three-toed Box Turtle
Ohio: Black Racer
South Caroline: Loggerhead Sea Turtle.
Page Complete at Last
We are pleased to let you know that we have received the last image required for our page of official State and Provincial Trees. Thanks for helping us out! We invite you to check out the page by clicking 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.
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Celebrating Nature
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The Great Backyard Bird Count is February 15-18.
Here's another chance to take part in an important activity and celebrate
the importance birds and the pleasure they bring into our lives.
Click here for details of this event and to get involved.
Coming up on March 21 is World Forestry Day. More details about that next month.
Also, mark your calendars for National Wildlife Week, March 18-24.
We'll also have information about that for you next month.
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Did You Know...
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Did you know at a group of Cormorants is called a gulp or a flight?
We have a whole illustrated page of group names for birds. Just click here. |
| State and Provincial Symbols
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The Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana.
You can see our collection of state and provincial birds by clicking here. |
| Trivia Answer
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Jellyfish can sting even when they're dead. |
| What's This?
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Our mystery image is a Northern Shoveler. How well did you do? |
| Nature Notes
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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 month may you enjoy many wonderful encounters of nature.
Watch for the next issue of Whispers in your inbox during the first week of March. See you then! |
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