As the tide receeds, many of the cracks and crevices in the rocks and tidal pools of the seashore reveal a multitude of nature's weird and wonderful creatures. |
Greetings
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Welcome to the summer issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your cyber nature centre.
Many thanks to all of our subscribers for supporting our nature project! We hope this issue finds you well and enjoying nature wherever you may be. |
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Trivia Time
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Here's this month's trivia question:
Which critter of the woodlands floats when it goes into water?
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.
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What's This? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's this issue's little nature puzzle. What do you think this close-up image is?
You'll find the answer below.
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| New Features at the Inn
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Here are the newest additions to the Inn. Click on the images below to visit the pages. Walking in the Wild - The Birds
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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.
 
Dr Ron Walker of Victoria, BC, our frequent contributor of underwater images submitted these two pictures of American Avocets taken during a springtime trip to Saskatchewan. Coincidently the Avocet was last month's bird of the month.   W.C. Durnil of Arizona also submitted these two fascinating pictures highlighting the amazing colours and features of the Morman Cricket. Thank-you so much for sending in your pictures! If you would 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 month our wandering image is taken close to the ground.
The common wild strawberry, Fragaria virginiana, is responsible for practically all of the cultivated strawberries grown today. It grows in well-drained open areas where it is able to send out its reddish runners. Here it is shown in flower which usually occurs in late spring or early summer, depending on the location. During the summer months, tiny but familiar looking strawberries appear. |
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Snippets in Nature ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We visit Red Rock Canyon located in Waterton National Park in Alberta this month. Waterton is perhaps more famous for its mountain scenery and diversity of wildflowers, but this fascinating canyon of vivid red rock is a favourite spot for visitors to explore.
Your can take the Inn's virtual visit to Waterton by clicking here. |
| Caption This!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once again we have selected an image that is waiting for a funny caption. As usual we've given you a couple of ideas, but we await your insightful, witty suggestions.
Number one: "Yoo hoo! Anybody in there?" Number two: "You can come out now! Trust me, the tide is in." If you have any suggestions for additional funny captions, 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 |
Behind the Name
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In this section we examine the meanings behind scientific names.
Subalpine Fleabane, Erigeron peregrinus, is an alpine or subalpine member of the aster family.
It's scientific name Erigeron is from the Greek language, eri meaning early and geron meaning old man. This is in reference to the appearance of the white hairs of the plant's fruit so soon after flowering. Peregrinus, means "traveller." |
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Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two owls are sitting having a beer in a pub. One turns to the other and says, "By the way, I got married last week."
The second one says, "You twit! To who?"
As you can see, these two can't control their laughter at that hilarious joke! |
| Notes from Around the Inn
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A Friendly Reminder
A bird bath should not exceed 2 and 1/2 inches of water. Different sizes of baths with shallower depths will encourage more species to visit. Smaller dishes are also convenient as birds' drinking water.
Picture of the Week
For the past six months we have been adding a new nature-themed photograph every week to the Inn which means we have posted over two dozen images featuring wildlife, scenery and flowers. Click on the collage below to see the entire selection. 
Images Wanted!
If you're out and about this summer keep your camera ready to go. Perhaps you'll be able to capture an image to help us complete our pages of state/provincial birds, flowers, butterflies and insects. Here is what we still need:
Insects - visit the page
AK - Four Spotted Skimmer Dragonfly
AZ - Two Tailed Butterfly
CA - California Dogface Butterfly
CO - Colorado Hairstreak Butterfly
MD - Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly,
NM - Tarantula Hawk Wasp
OR - Oregon Swallowtail Butterfly
NWT - Mountain Avens
NU - Purple Saxifrage
SK - Western Red Lily
MT - Bitterroot Birds - visit the page
NWT - Gyrfalcon
CO - Lark Bunting
DE - Blue Hen Chicken
RI - Rhode Island Red Hen
AZ - Two Tailed Butterfly
AR - Diana fritillary Butterfly
NH - Karner Blue Butterfly
NM - Sandia Hairstreak
TN - Zebra Swallowtail
WY - Sheridan's Green Hairstreak If you can help with any of these image, please send us an e-mail. Many thanks! Past Issues and the Next IssueWe upload past issues of Whispers as new ones are issued. You can view them all with a simple click here.
We'll be taking a bit of a summer break as we head out with our cameras during this exciting time of the year. Until next time, may your experiences in nature be wonderful. Have a terrific summer! See you in September. |
| Nature Notes
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| Trivia Answer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Common Porcupine is able to easily float due to the design of its quills.
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| What's This?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's the answer:
It is part of the colourful shell of the Wrinkled Amphissa, Amphissa columbiana. Hopefully you got that one right! Find out more about diverse marine life in our Marine Life At-A-Glance guide. |
| Whispers
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We thought the name Whispers well-represented the things we love so much in natural world around us: the sounds and changes in nature carried by the wind; the subtle passing of the seasons; the calming serenity of a wildflower garden and the gentle quietness of the forest. Next time you're in a special place in nature, listen to the whispers. |
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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!
Until next time, best wishes from your friends at the Dereila Nature Inn - the Cyber Nature Centre for Nature Lovers. | |
