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Welcome to July's issue of the Dereila Nature Inn newsletter.
Some pretty Alpine Marsh Marigolds, Caltha leptosepala, greet you this month and remind you that this is a great month to head off into the mountains to see the alpine flowers.
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Greetings
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Hello there, and welcome to the July's issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your virtual nature centre. This is a wonderful time of the year for nature lovers with so many sunny days and perhaps some free time to get out hiking, walking, exploring and truly enjoying nature.
We hope you enjoy our newsletter this month. We have some great photos to show you as well as a few bits of trivia and tips. Thanks for subscribing and supporting this project!
 Please join us on Facebook where we welcome your comments and ideas. |
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Trivia Time
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Which birds have ornamental plumes that are called aigrettes?
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.
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What's This?
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Do you know what this cropped close-up photograph is? 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 the latest additions at the Inn. Just click on the images and you'll be taken straight to the page. 
Close-ups in Nature 9
We've added another page with zoomed-in, cropped-up mystery photos to identify.
A Look at Larvae On this page you can roll your mouse over photographs of interesting organisms to see what they'll look like when they've reached adulthood. Birds of North American Crossword Puzzle #8 - Little Birds This puzzle includes wrens, swallows, sparrows finches and other small birds.
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Contributed by...
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We invite you to submit nature photographs to this section. This month we have another great and varied selection.
Shahbaz Hasan of Karachi, Pakistan, sent in this pretty
photograph of a succulent cactus, Delosperma sp.
Rob Walker from Victoria, BC, submitted another wonderful
underwater shot this time of a Ling Cod.
 Another regular contributor, Jonathan Schnurr from Suwanee, GA,
chose this image of Sweet Betsy, Trillium cuneatum, a perennial
flowering plant native to parts of the southeastern United States.
Claudia Gregoire, Glenville, NY kindly submitted this cute
photograph of a female mallard and her chicks.
Thank you so much for taking the time to send us your fabulous 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!
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| Monthly Selections
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Here are this month's choices: Bug - Blue Dasher; Wildflower - Spring Draba; Bird - Black-headed Grosbeak.   
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 we've selected a page posted several years ago called In the Shadow of Peaks - Alpine Wildflowers. If features a variety of colourful alpine wildflowers that we hope you'll enjoy. To visit the page, just click here.
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| The Wandering Image
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This month we take a wander by the wetlands. 
This is a Variable Darner, Aeshna interrupta, which is found all over North America. It's always a pleasure when a dragonfly settles down for a moment allowing a photographer to capture the intricate designs and patterns of the insect's body and wings.
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| Caption This!
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Here's our monthly image ready for your humourous caption along with a couple of our ideas. 
Number one: "OK. Just pop it in here."
Number two: "Be good and I'll bring you something bigger."
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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Nevada's Valley of Fire State Park is an amazing place of colourful rocks and formations. It's one of the lesser-known parks, and not too far from the bright lights and noise of Las Vegas. If you get a chance to visit, be warned: it gets very hot in the summer. You might want to take a virtual tour of the park by clicking here. This is just one of over 20 in our series of Special Places in the Natural World. 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.
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Behind the Name
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 Elephant's Head, Pedicularis groenlandica, lives up to its common name with beautiful flowers that resemble the trunk, head and large ears of an elephant. Its scientific name has a bit of a mystery to it. The genus name, Pedicularis, is Latin for "louse" as the plant is classified as a member of a large group of plants called Louseworts. It was once believed that if cattle and other stock ate these plants they would get lice. The species part of the name, groenlandica, means "Greenland" which is rather mysterious since this plant was first identified in Eastern Canada.
Elephant's Head, like many plants in the same genus, is a parasitic plant relying on the roots of other plants to survive.
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Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One night a lot of clashing and banging woke a couple up. Looking out the window they saw three raccoons knocking over the garbage cans. The man dashed downstairs and chased them all away.
Driving home one night a few days later, the couple spotted three raccoons walking along the side of the road.
The woman said, "Are they the same ones that you chased?"
"Not sure," the man replied. "They were wearing masks."
"It must have been the three maskateers!"
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| Notes, News and Tips from Around the Inn
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Facebook
 We invite you to post comments, suggestions and participate in discussions on our new Facebook page. To visit, just click on the logo or here.
A Little Reminder
At this time of the year we like to remind those of you traveling about in the mountains and other wild areas to drive carefully and keep a watch because there's lots of new youngsters out and about.
Tips from the Inn
 
If you're lucky enough to have hummingbirds visit your feeding station, it's a great idea to place a small twig nearby on which a young hummingbird can rest and wait.
Here the female hummingbird feeds contently knowing that the youngster is sitting patiently close by.
Photos Wanted!
We are in the process of creating a state reptiles page and are in need of images of the following:
Red-bellied Turtle, Arizona Ridged-nosed Rattlesnake; Desert Tortoise; American Alligator; Gopher Tortoise; Diamond Terrapin; Snapping Turtle; Eastern Box Turtle; Black Racer; Loggerhead Sea Turtle; Horned Lizard; Timber Rattlesnake.
If you can help out with a photo of two, please let us know via e-mail.
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.
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Great Rivers
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The River Avon, near Stratford-upon-Avon,
Warwickshire, England, submitted by Eileen, Scotland.
Although less than 100 miles/160 km long this famous river is known for its beauty as it meanders in a southwesterly direction in central England. It is one of numerous rivers and towns around with world with the name Avon.
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Did You Know...
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Did you know that a giraffe can clean its ears with its tongue and can drink 12 gallons of water in one sitting? It can also go without water longer than a camel. |
| State and Provincial Symbols
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The Western Painted Turtle, Chrysemys picta, is the official reptile of the state of Colorado.
26 states have chosen an official state reptile with Oklahoma being the first to make a selection, way back in 1969.
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| Trivia Answer
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The egret has a tufted crest or head plumes which were once used in ladies' hats.
These plumes were called aigrettes, which is French for Egret.
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| What's This?
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This month's mystery picture is a Rough Keyhole Limpet, Diodora aspera.
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| Nature Notes
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Spread the Word ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We hope you've enjoyed this month's newsletter and we hope you'll forward it on to your nature-loving friends. Your ideas and suggestions are always welcome, send us an e-mail.
We'll be taking a bit of a break for the summer so we can get out with our cameras and enjoy as much nature as possible. Watch for the next issue of Whispers in your inbox during the first week of September See you then and have a great summer!
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