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Welcome to June's issue of the Dereila Nature Inn newsletter.
A beautiful lush Lady Fern greets us during the first of the summer months.
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Greetings
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Welcome to Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your cyber nature centre where we celebrate nature and photography every month with trivia, tips and news.
We're very excited as we move into summer - a great time for nature photography, exploring and enjoying the outdoors. As usual, we'd like to welcome our new subscribers and say a special thank you to everyone for supporting us, sending in your ideas and photographs and promoting the Nature Inn.
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Trivia Time
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Here's this month's trivia question:
Which bird can imitate any sound from a squeaking door to a cat meowing?
You'll find the answer is at the end of the newsletter.
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What's This?
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Here's another little puzzle to solve. Do you know what this close-up picture is? Scroll down below for the answer.
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| New Features at the Inn
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Here are the latest features at the Inn which we hope you'll enjoy. Clicking on the images will take you straight to the page.  Butterflies Crossword
If you know your Western Brown Elfin from your Pacific Orangetip you might want to try this crossword featuring 20 different butterflies.  Understanding MushroomsFind out about stipes and gills, pores and spores in this section on mushrooms. These next items are part of the All Things Natural Restaurant section which include tips and ideas for attracting and feeding birds.
Saving Berries for Winter If you have access to a few berries in the fall, your bird visitors will be very thankful when winter arrives and such food is scarce.
Photo Tips: Using Nature's Props
Adding a few twigs and props can assist you in getting some super pictures.
Small Pond for Birds Birds love this a small pond with a little waterfall.
Natural Log Feeder
Using an old log or branch as a feeder can gives you some effective photo opportunities.
 Helping Out Nesting Birds
Placing cattails and grasses near your feeding station provides a new nest-building material for your backyard birds.
Pine Cone Feeder
A simple pine cone stuffed with some home-made suet can attract a variety of birds.
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Contributed by... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We invite you to submit nature photographs to this part of our newsletter. Once again, we received some super submissions this month to show you.
" Cypress Swamp" by Deb Smith, Somerville, South Carolina
"Musical Squirrel" by Kathryn M, Calgary, AB
  Marilyn Flanagan of Florida sent in these two fantastic pictures. On the left we have a Mockingbird perched high on a branch checking things out and on the right a great photo of a Common Buckeye Butterfly. Marilyn, Deb and Kathryn, many thanks for taking the time and sending in your 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! |
Monthly Selections
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Here are this month's choices: Insect - Western Conifer Seed Bug; Wildflower - Wild Strawberry; Bird - Caspian Tern.
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 |
| The Wandering Image
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This month we looked high in the trees for our shot.
This Turkey Vulture spreads its wings to catch the first rays of sun.
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Snippets in Nature ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mt. Baker in northwest Washington State looms over the Gulf Islands.
This is a permanently snow-capped mountain.
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| Caption This!
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We'd love your caption for this image of a Chipping Sparrow with some tasty food for its young ones. Any ideas? We've given you a couple below to get you going.
Number one: "Alright, who ordered the Crane Fly?"
Number two: "Come and get it! I'm not going to stand here all day."
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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Usually in this section we explain the meanings behind the scientific name of various organisms, but this time we want to focus on the explanation behind a rather interesting common name.
The Red-breasted Sapsucker is so named because of how it obtains food. Here we show the sapsucker with some of the holes itmade. When the tree sap fills the holes the birds drink it and come back to eat any insects that may be caught in the sticky sap.
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Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A young magician worked on a cruise ship and the captain had a pet parrot who never left him alone when on the stage. The parrot knew all his tricks and always gave away the secrets of how they were done. It would say things like, "He has 2 of those cards up his sleeve." or "The bird is in his pocket." It always told the audience where everything went when the magician made things disappear.
One day the cruise ship sank and the magician and the parrot found themselves alone in a lifeboat. For a couple of days, they just sat there looking at each other. Finally, the parrot broke the silence and asked, "Okay, I give up. What did you do with the ship?"
"Well, didn't you want to know what he did with it"? |
| Notes, News and Tips from Around the Inn
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National Pollinator Week
This month we observe National Pollinator Week, June 21 - 27. As our contribution we have made this nesting site for bees that lay their eggs in holes. A few short bamboo canes, 5 or 6 inches long, are bound together and hung in a sunny location from a tree or other suitable place. The ends should be closed off with small pellets of wood. Small branches pushed in and snapped off work well for this. Now, we'll just wait and see what happens!
Reminder from the Inn
With the nesting season drawing to a close, the never-ending feeding sessions start. One way to help out is to continue to put out food if you have been using feeding stations throughout the winter. The birds are used to them and in turn they have a small and ready supply of food for their young ones.
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. |
Did You Know...
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Did you know that most Green Turtles nest in the Caribbean,
but up to 2000 nests can be found in Florida each year? |
| Trivia Answer
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The answer to our little trivia question is the mockingbird.
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| What's This?
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The answer to our close-up mystery photograph is Old Man's Whiskers, Geum triflorum.
How did you do? |
| Nature Notes
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Spread the Word ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading! 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. Your 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. Watch for the next issue of Whispers in your inbox during the first week of July. |
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