| |
 ___
Welcome to our monthly celebration of nature and photography!
We hope you enjoy this issue's selection of jokes, trivia, photos and news. |
|
|
|
A happy flush of baby Mallards welcomes you this month.
|
|
TRIVIA TIME
Which birds are known to have difficulty feeding a large family and after a few days start attacking their own chicks when they beg for food? These attacks concentrate on the weaker chicks, which eventually give up and die
You'll find the answer at the end of this newsletter.
|
|
WHAT'S THIS?
Do you have any idea what this month's monthly mystery picture is?
The answer is again at the bottom of the newsletter.
|
|
MONTHLY PAGE
Come along and take a few virtual tours of some of our favourite Special Places in Nature.
You will find a choice of 24 slide shows including national, state and provincial parks in North America.
You can start your tour of these great places by clicking here.
|
|
CONTRIBUTED BY... |
|
__ |
|
Laughing gull from Marilyn Flanagan of Florida |
|
Red buds tree flower also from Marilyn Flanagan. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Herman Veenendaal sent us this Great Blue Heron. |
|
Herman also sent us this Great Egret picture. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is the first Armadillo we have had sent in, and it came from Joyce Cahill of Winslow, Arkansas. |
|
W.C. Durnil of Chino Valley, Arizona, sent in this picture of a Sphinx Moth, which is often mistaken for a hummingbird! |
| |
|
|
Many thanks to Marilyn, Herman, Joyce and W.C. Durnil
If you have a nature image for this section, please let us know!
|
|
WANDERING IMAGE
This month while wandering around, we spotted a rather interesting beetle.
This is a Western Conifer Seed Bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis.
|
|
CAPTION THIS
We have another image waiting for your caption.
Here are two of our ideas:
#1 - "Yes, there is room for another little one!"
#2 - "Hey, who's going to be doing the rowing?"
Lia Fraser of Victoria, B.C. sent in a caption for our April caption. "No, I am not an owl!"
If this month's photo inspires you, please send us your caption in an e-mail.
|
|
SNIPPETS IN NATURE
The snippet this month has two great looking pelicans on the Kaskaskia River at Carlyle, IL.
It was sent to us by Jim Noeninger of Shiloh, IL.
|
|
JOKE OF THE MONTH
__Papa Bear was quietly reading his paper when Momma Bear walked up behind him and suddenly smacked him on the back of the head with her frying pan!
__"What was that for?"
__"You bum!" replied Momma Bear. "I found a piece of paper in your pocket with Betty Sue written on it! Who is she you two-timing, no good boar!"
__Calmly he replied, "Oh, that. Remember last week when I went to the races? Betty Sue was the name of the horse I went there to bet on."
__Momma Bear shrugged and walked away.
__Three days later while he is reading his paper once again, his wife walked up up behind him and clouted him twice on the back of his head with her frying pan.
__ "What was that for?" he said.
__"Your horse just called."
|
"The number of times I've told them not to call me at home."
|
|
NOTES, NEWS AND TIPS
Here are this month's choices:
Bird - Rock Dove | Wildflower - Common Tansy
| Bug - Podabrus pruinosus
 __  __
Simply click on the images to visit the pages.
It is that time of year again when the younger members of the family are
arriving and extra precautions are required on the highways.
Here's a little tip: The eyes of the little Bushtits identify the female from the male, the females eyes are yellow.
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
If you would like to see any of the past issues of Whispers, they are available here.
|
|
|
CELEBRATING NATURE
 |
|
 |
International Bird Migratory Day - May 9
|
|
International Day for Biodiversity - May 22 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DID YOU KNOW....
Did you know that there are approximately 288,000 badgers in the United Kingdom?
An estimated 45,000 are killed in road accidents every
year.
|
|
STATE AND PROVINCIAL EMBLEMS
The oak was designated as the official national tree of the United States in 2004.
|
|
TRIVIA ANSWER
The American Coot may raise only one or two chicks out of the nine or ten birds that hatch.
|
|
ANSWER TO WHAT'S THIS?
This month we have the white fluffy feathers of a Mute Swan.
|
|
|
|
Thanks for joining us this month! We hope you enjoyed this issue of Whispers. We invite your comments and ideas - just drop us an e-mail. See you next month! |
You can support this
project with a donation: |
|
|
|
|
|
