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These lazy seals welcome you to another issue of Whispers.
They seem to be doing what many of us love to do at this time
of the year: lazing around and enjoying the sunshine.
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Greetings
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Hello once again and welcome to our summer issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your cyber nature centre.
We hope that you're enjoying this wonderful time of the year and that fine weather is with you and your encounters with nature are memorable.
To the new subscribers - welcome - and to our long-time subscribers we'd like to once again thank you for your support and for being an important part of this project.
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Trivia Time
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Which warm-blooded animal has more neck vertebrae than any other?
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.
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| New Features at the Inn
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Here are some of the latest additions at the Inn. Just click on the images to go directly to the page.
Bees and Wasps - At A Glance Guide
 Check out our simple guide to some of the bees and wasps you might encounter on your travels or even in your garden.
Birds and Their Young  Enjoy a few pictures and text featuring birds and their babies. Water Loving Birds Crossword
 Try this simple crossword with picture clues featuring eight birds from the lagoon. 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.
This wonderful image of a brown pelican taken on Bogue Island, North Carolina, was kindly submitted by Joanne T. of Londell, Missouri, while on vacation there.
Thanks Joanne for the wonderful image! 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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This is one of those little animals that is often heard and rarely seen: the pika. Another name for it is the rock rabbit as it is in the same family as rabbits and lives usually in rock slides. It does not hibernate as many mammals do, but it stores its winter supply of food. It keeps busy throughout the summer months carrying grasses and other green materials down to its home for later mid-winter feasts.
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Snippets in Nature ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mount St. Helens made the headlines way back in 1980 when in the early morning of Sunday, May 18 it erupted.
The eruption lasted for nine hours, reducing the top of the mountain from 9,677 feet (2,950 m) to 8,365 feet (2,550m) and replacing it with a mile-wide (1.6 km-wide) horseshoe-shaped crater.
Today though, things are a lot more peaceful as these images from June 2008 show. The area is now a National Monument, created for preservation and education.
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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.
Here's this month's image. A couple of captions we thought of were: Simon says, "Do this." and I'll look out for eagles.
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes, there's a story that goes with the photograph.
  You just never know what lesson nature will unexpectedly teach you. The story behind this month's image involves this click beetle. After posing for a few close-up pictures, the beetle suddenly decided to leave and taking only a split second, it opened its wing covers before taking to the air revealing its beautiful and often hidden wings. Since the camera was already focussed, the split second was long enough to get the second image on the right. So for those who never knew that some insects have wing covers protecting their wings, the resulting image has some educational value. |
Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the mother returned from the grocery store, her small son pulled out the box of animal crackers he had begged for, then he spread the animal shape crackers all over the kitchen counter.
"What are you doing?" his Mom asked.
"The box says you can't eat them if the seal is broken," the boy explained. "I'm looking for the seal."
(And since we started this newsletter off with a seal, we'll use a laughing sealion to go with this joke!)
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| Trivia Answer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The answer to this month's trivia question is: The swan.
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| Notes from Around the Inn
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We're always working on new ideas and features and are busy with our cameras in hand during this great time of the year. If there is something in particular that you'd like to see featured - please just let us know by e-mail. Site Map
Our site map is a handy, straight-forward way to find your way around the Inn. You'll find a link to the map at the bottom of most pages, or you can visit the map here. Where Are You?
We're very curious to know where members of our community are. Why not take a moment to send us a note indicating your location? It would be interesting to see how far-flung we all are!
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! Visit Our Forum
Just a reminder about and an invitation to visit our forum - The Nature Hut, where you can meet other nature lovers, upload your nature images and enjoy stories of sighting and experiences. Visit the Hut by clicking on the logo below.
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 September. Until then, thanks once again for supporting this project and may your experiences in nature be wonderful! |
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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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