Welcome to July's issue of the Dereila Nature Inn newsletter.
This interesting little creature, a Heart Crab, Phyllolithodea papillosus, welcomes you this month, a time of low tides and great opportunities to explore the tide pools. |
Greetings
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Hello and welcome to another edition of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your virtual nature centre. Summer is here and with it there is much activity in the world of nature to enjoy. We hope you'll have some opportunities to enjoy the parks and natural areas wherever you may be.
We'd like to thank you for subscribing and also welcome our new subscribers. We hope you'll enjoy the photographs, trivia, tips and ideas that we've put together this month.
 Please join us on Facebook where we welcome your comments and feedback. |
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Trivia Time
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Which creature symbolizes strength, perseverance and longevity in Native American lore?
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter. |
What's This? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you know what this cropped close-up photograph is?
It's a pretty easy one this month.
For more of this type of mystery solving,
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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 17
Can you figure out what these cropped, close-up images are?
Triangle Nest Box
This nest box has a different shape and is decorated with bark. 
Traditional Nest Box
In this project, the nest box has a unique design but is still simple to make.  Find the latest additions on the news/updates page. |
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Contributed by...
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Another fantastic collection of nature photographs have been
submitted this month for everyone to enjoy.
Susan Asis Kalman of Flusing, New York, spotted this Red-tailed Hawk in Steptoe Canyon, Eastern Washington.  This beautiful male Northern Cardinal was sent in to us by Tony of Toronto, Ontario.
A pretty Red-breasted Grosbeak was spotted by
Steve Slayton, Lawrenceville, Georgia.
 Rosemary O'Connell of Ottawa, Ontario sent in this wonderful image of a Red Trillium.
Rosemary also submitted this picture of a Trout Lily that she spotted.
New subscriber Bernis, from Australia, sent in this delightful photograph
of an Agile Wallaby, Macropus agilis, which was visiting his property.
Thank you everyone for these great pictures.
We really appreciate you taking the time and sending them in.
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 - Spur-throated Grasshopper; Wildflower - Western Wall Flower; Bird - Gambel's Quail   
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
There are almost 250 images of all sorts of different fungi in our Fungi At-A-Glance page. You'll be surprised by the huge variety of shapes, sizes, colours and interesting names of these organisms.
Red Coral Mushroom, Ramaria araiospora
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| The Wandering Image
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We didn't have to wander too far this month for our image.  These Red Crossbills seem to be really enjoying a good splash about reminding us of the importance of water at bird feeding stations. |
| Caption This!
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What do you think would be a good caption for this photo?
As usual, we've given you a couple of ideas.
Number one: "Wee hee! Do that again! I like it!"
Number two: "Get the cameras out for this big catch!"
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 rugged, beautiful place is Georgian Bay at Tobermory, Ontario.
It is a large bay of Lake Huron, one of North America's Great Lakes.
Many thanks to Frank and Sandra Horvath of Grimsby, Ontario,
who sent this to us for everyone to appreciate and enjoy
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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Death Camas, Zigadenus venenosus, is a rather toxic member of the Lily family of plants which explains its common name. The poison warning is also evident in its species name -venenosus - which is Latin for very poisonous.
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Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two coyotes were sitting on a bench drinking beer. They were rather quiet and thoughtful.
Finally one said, "I think I'm going to find another mate. Mine hasn't spoken to me in over two weeks."
His friend considered this and continued to sip his beer.
After a while he said thoughtfully, "You'd better think it over. Mates like that are hard to find."
"Hmmm. I'd never thought of that." |
| 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
Don't forget to keep the water dishes filled with clean fresh
water during the hot summer weather.
Tips from the Inn
In March's newsletter we mentioned a new page on insulating your
hummingbird feeder. Now we have an addition to it.
 Drill a 1/4 inch hole in the centre of a plastic plant pot saucer. The wider the saucer the more protection your feeder will have. Remove the top of the insulation bottle and glue it to the saucer, lining up the holes in both. Feed the hanging wire back through the holes and screw the top back on.
The saucer will protect the feeder and its feeding holes from rain.
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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Here are some of the great things happening this month.
Canadians will be honouring and celebrating their parks on
July 20 which is Canada's Parks Day. Click here for more information.
National Wildlife Day happens on September 4.
More about that in our next newsletter. |
Did You Know...
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Did you know that the the Anna's Humminbird was named after
Anna Masséna? She was the Duchess of Rivoli 1802-1887. |
| Emblems and Symbols of the World
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The Black Swan is the state emblem of Western Australia. |
| Trivia Answer
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In Native American folklore the turtle represents strength, perseverance and longevity. |
| What's This?
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This month's mystery photo is of some Shell Barnacles, Solidobalanus hesperius. |
| 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 time may you enjoy many wonderful encounters of nature.
We'll be taking a bit of a break and getting out and about this summer with our cameras, so watch for the next issue of Whispers in your inbox during the first week of September. See you then. Have a wonderful summer! |
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