Welcome to May's issue of the Dereila Nature Inn newsletter.
Five Black Oystercatchers celebrate our newsletter's 5th anniversary this month.
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Greetings
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Hello everyone!
Welcome to the 5th anniversary issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your virtual nature centre. We cannot believe that these five years have gone by already. We've had so many great photo submissions and contributions over the years, plus lots of jokes, trivia and tips. We really appreciate this opportunity to celebrate nature and photography with you. Thanks for all of your support, encouragement and ideas.
May is a wonderful month for birders. Many birds have returned from their winter places and are nesting and millions of others are taking part in the great migration - moving across North America, stopping along to way to feed and rest before continuing on their way to the far north. We hope you get a chance for some great encounters!  Please join us on Facebook where we welcome your comments and ideas. |
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Trivia Time
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In the late 1800s the United States started a new celebration. A name and a date were selected and since then 35 other countries have joined in celebrating in their own way. What is the event?
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.
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What's This? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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. Special Places in the Natural World: Sabino Canyon
Come on down to Arizona and explore this amazing desert place.
Earth Day 2012 Celebration
Our 4th annual Earth Day celebration has a fantastic collection of nature pictures that were submitted.
Walking in the Wild - The Birds
We have added four more information pages to this series: The Ring-necked Duck; The Dunlin; The American Coot and the White-fronted Goose.
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Contributed by...
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We invite you to submit nature photographs to this section. We hope you enjoy this month's terrific selection. Neat Looking Turtle, Susan Asis Kalman, Flushing, New York
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Marilyn Flanigan, Florida
Female Moose, Frank and Sandra Horvath, Grimsby, Ontario
Rare shot of a Pine Marten, also from Frank and Sandra Horvath.
Green Heron, Judy Howle, Columbus, Mississippi
Thank you everyone for the amazing 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 - Pararchytas decisus; Wildflower - Hooded Pitcher Plant; Bird - Hawaiian Duck   
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 selected page the Wildflower Garden. This is the opening page to the section at the Nature Inn that explores wildflowers. Here you'll find links to our At-A-Glance Guides to Wildflowers, the Wildflower of the Month, Wildflower Crosswords and Jigsaws as well as informative articles and features. Visit the page by clicking here.
White Paintbrush |
| The Wandering Image
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Our wandering image is actually a series of images this month.  This interesting cluster of eggs caught the eye and after
waiting and watching for some development, we were rewarded.
The hatchlings finally emerged - tiny black beetles.
A proud day for Momma Lady Bug!
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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: "Hey! I saw her first!" Number two: "Oops! Sorry! I thought there was a mirror."
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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The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ, has an amazing variety of desert plants and wildlife. It's a great place for the nature photographer to get new images as well as learn about the desert. 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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The scientific name of the Globeflower is Trollius albiforis. The genus name Trollius is believed to be named after the supernatural Swedish Troll, perhaps because the plant contains some rather poisonous substances. The species name is very straightforward: Albi = white and floris = flowers, and this plant certainly has beautiful white flowers. |
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Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two vultures were flying over Wales. As they were approaching the town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllantysiliogogogoch, they started arguing about the pronunciation of the town's name. They argued back and forth until they stopped for lunch. As they stood at the counter of a fast-food restaurant, one of them decided to ask the Welsh employee.
"Before we order, can you settle an argument for us? Can you please pronounce where we are - very slowly?"
The girl leaned over the counter and said, "MMMaacccDDDonnaalddd's."
(Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllantysiliogogogoch is a real town. Translated, the name means "The Church of many in the hollow of the white hazel near the peace whirlpool and the Church of Tysilio by the red cave.")
"Oh, don't sulk. I'll ask next time." |
| 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
Sadly, inquisitive birds and beasts are often attracted to garbage. So please do a double check around when you're in an area of beauty and take away any garbage, even if it's not yours. It's for the good of all.
Tips from the Inn
A popular bird feeder is a simple log with a few holes drilled into it which you can stuff with suet. Another alternative which can provide better nature-like images is a part of an old tree like this one. Just fasten it down with some wire or string in an easy viewing area on your bird feeding station.
Fill in one or two of the cracks or depressions with your suet mix.
This Bewick's Wren quickly found the hidden tasty delight!
Now you have plenty of time to get some great looking nature photos!
Celebrate Earth Day!
Many thanks to everyone who sent in photographs to celebrate Earth Day 2012. We are thrilled with the results. You can see the page by clicking here. Thanks once again for supporting this annual project!
Get an iGoogle Gadget
If you have an iGoogle page, why not add the Inn's image gadget to it? Here's a sample:
To get going with this, just 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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In southwestern Alberta, the Belly River flows through the eastern part of Waterton Lakes National Park. It actually starts south of the border in Montana's Glacier National Park. The two parks are an International Peace Park and recognized by the United Nations as a World Heritage site. You can take our photographic tour of Waterton by clicking here.
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Did You Know...
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Did you know that the Green Sea Turtle is the official reptile of Mexico? |
| State and Provincial Symbols
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The Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep is the official mammal of Alberta and Colorado. Nevada has chosen a subspecies, the Desert Bighorn Sheep. A total of 43 provinces and states have selected official mammals. You can see our collection by clicking here.
You'll notice that we are missing a few images, so if you can help out and provide a photo for the page, please e-mail us. We'd love to get that page completed!
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| Trivia Answer
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The United States started the tradition of Arbor Day - celebrated there on April 27. In many countries it's called National Tree Planting Day. Did you plant a tree?! It's not too late!
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| What's This?
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Our mystery image is a Green Sea Urchin, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis.
How well did you do?
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| 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.
Watch for the next issue of Whispers in your inbox during the first week of June. See you then!
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