Welcome to March's issue of the Dereila Nature Inn newsletter.  Some colourful Water Plantain Buttercups, Ranunculus alismifolius, var alismifolius,
welcome you this month. |
Greetings
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Welcome to the latest issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your virtual nature centre. In many places March is a month of renewal and rebirth and a great month for nature lovers. The snow and ice are melting (hopefully) and the days are getting longer and warmer. Soon, migrating birds will be arriving and spring flowers will be blooming. Wherever you are we hope this is an inspiring time for you.
 Please join us on Facebook where we welcome your comments and feedback. |
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Trivia Time
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Which North American tree produces a cancer-fighting agent used by doctors?
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter. |
What's This? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you know what this cropped close-up photograph is?
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. Easy Nesting Material HolderIn this project you can make and attractive hanging holder for nesting material such as dog hair and laundry fluff. 
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Contributed by...
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This month we have a terrific selection of nature photographs that have been sent in.
This Upland Sandpiper sent in by Frank and Sandra Horvath of Grimsby, Ontario.
Gail Freiherr, Knoxville, Tennessee, sent in this photograph of a very handsome peacock. 
Margaret Straley of Spencer, Roane County, West Virginia sent us this shot of a Long-billed Curlew taken in Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Montana.
 Marilyn Flanagan captured this super photo of Florida's state Butterfly, the Zebra Longwing. What great photographs. Many thanks to Frank, Sandra, Gail, Margaret and Marilyn for submitting these images for us all to enjoy. We really appreciate it. 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: Bug - Carabid Beetle; Wildflower - Pacific Sanicle; Bird - Black-chinned Hummingbird   
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's feature page is called Photographing Small Birds and offers
some ideas about getting some good natural-looking bird photographs.
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| The Wandering Image
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This month we wander again along the trails of sunny Hawaii.  It is truly amazing how creative common names of plants can be. This is a the flower of a Shaving Brush Tree, Pseudobombax ellipticum. It is native to Central America, but is well-suited for the lovely climate of Hawaii. |
| Caption This!
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What do you think would be a great caption for this photo of a lonely seagull at the lagoon? As usual, we've given you a couple of ideas to help get you thinking.
Number one: "At last, it has finally stopped raining."
Number two: "Oh, how I wish I were a duck sometimes."
If this month's photo inspires you, please send us your caption in 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 lush and inspiring scene of the Appalachians was taken near Helen, Georgia.
We'd like to thank Jonathan Schnurr. for taking us to such a pretty area
If you think you have a suitable nature photograph for this section please send us an e-mailalong with a brief explanation. We look forward to your submissions. |
Behind the Name
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Yellow Sand Verbena, Abronia latifolia, grows in sandy and stony areas of the coastal North America from California to Canada. The genus name, Abronia, comes from the Greek word habros, which means "graceful." The species name, latifolia, is from Latin and means "with wide leaves," which you can see that it has. |
Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An otter walked into the doctor's office and said, "I've got shingles." The receptionist wrote down his name and details and told him to have a seat. 15 minutes later, a nurse's aide came and took him into a small waiting room. She asked the otter what he had. "Shingles," he said. So she recorded his height and weight. Half an hour passed when a nurse came in and asked him yet again what he had.
"Shingles," he answered, with some annoyance in his voice.
"You'd better wait for the doctor," the nurse said.
Finally, the doctor came in and said, "Where do you have the shingles?"
To that the otter answered, "Outside on my truck. Where do you want 'em?"
"I should have charged them overtime." |
| 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.
GuestbookWe recently added a guestbook to the Nature Inn and welcome your comments on your next visit. You can also find it here.
Nest Box Festival 2014
April 1 is coming up soon! That's the beginning of our Nest Box Festival. We are encouraging everyone to help the birds out a bit and put up a nest box or two then submit photographs of the birds and their boxes. For more information, please check out our Bird Nest Box Festival page. You will also find some ideas for making nest boxes by clicking here.
A Little Reminder
With the arrival of spring, many creatures that have been sleeping away the cold and harsh months of winter will be waking up and will be hungry. Watch out for them when you are traveling on the roads.
Tips from the Inn
It's time to put out nesting material for the birds. If you have a holder for hair
and fluff, give it a good clean and the refill it with fresh material.
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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Americans will be celebrating National Wildlife Week this year from March 17-23
(Canadians will be celebrating in April). Click here for more details.
The planet will be honouring and celebrating its forests on March 21
which is World Forestry Day. Click here for information.
Coming up in April is one of our favourite celebrations: Earth Day.
Watch for more details next month.
Also in April, we will be celebrating Arbor Day on April 25. |
Did You Know...
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Did you know that a macroinvertebrate is a tiny organism that is just visible to the naked eye and so not have a backbone? In 2005, the American state of Delaware was the first state to adopt a macroinvertebrate as a state symbol. It chose the stonefly and there are over three dozen species of stoneflies in the state. |
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State and Provincial Symbols
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The delightful Black-capped Chickadee is New Brunswick's provincial bird.
To see our collection of provincial and state birds click here. |
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Trivia Answer
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The Pacific or Western Yew Tree, Taxus brevifolia,
produces a cancer-fighting agent called Taxol. |
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What's This?
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If you realized that this month's mystery photo was a mushroom, you get part marks.
If you said Sweet Tooth Mushroom, Hydnum umbilicatum, then congratulations!
You go to the top of the class! |
| 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 hope you'll watch for the next issue of Whispers in your inbox in April. See you then! |
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