A river flows by, taking with it the last days of autumn and carrying us into winter. |
Greetings
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Welcome to November's issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your cyber nature centre where we celebrate nature and photography every month with trivia, tips and site updates.
Thank-you for supporting our project. We hope you'll enjoy this issue. |
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Trivia Time
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Here's this month's trivia question: What is the fastest insect?
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.
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What's This?
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Here's another mysterious close-up image for you to solve. Can you figure out what this rather bizarre thing is?
You'll find the answer below. For more of this type of mystery solving, be sure to visit our pages of Close-ups in Nature. |
| New Features at the Inn
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Here are the newest additions to the Inn. Click on the images below to visit the pages. 
Chickadee Pudding Recipe Chickadees and other wild birds will love this tasty snack.  Autumn Celebration
We invited you to submit images to celebrate autumn in your area. Check out the great pictures we received!
Autumn in the Yukon
The latest destination in a series featuring special places in the natural world takes us to Canada's Yukon territory. Walking in the Wild - The MammalsWe've added two new pages to this series: The Caribou and the Muskox.   To see the latest postings at the Inn as they are added visit the news and updates page. |
Contributed by... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a community of nature enthusiasts exchanging ideas, stories, tips and images, we invite you to submit nature photographs to this part of our monthly newsletter. This month we have three people who sent us submissions.
 
Claudia from Scotia, NY sent in these great Common Loon pictures.
 
Rob Walker from Victoria, BC. sent in two more amazing photographs from beneath the sea. This is a Rainbow Seastar and a Frosted Nudibranch.   And all the way from Livingston Village in Scotland, our first contributions from outside of North America are these two pictures from Eileen. On the left is a cheeky looking Red Squirrel and on the right a Gold-ringed Dragonfly. Many thanks for your submissions! We really appreciate you taking the time to be part of our newsletter. If you would like to see your image as part of our members' section, simply send us an e-mail. |
| Monthly Selections
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each month we select a bug, wildflower and bird of the month. Here are this month's choices: Bug - Pacific Cuckoo Wasp; Wildflower - Wild Cucumber; Bird - Black-necked Stilt.
Simply click on the images to visit the pages.
You can also check out the achives as they're just a click away:
Wildflower Archives | Bug Archives | Bird Archives |
| The Wandering Image
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This month we have discovered something rather unusual on the side of a tree.
This is a rather large fungus called Chicken of the Woods, Laetiporus sulphureus. It grows on living and dead trees and is quite a sight to behold. Two other common names for this fascinating organism are: Chicken Mushroom and Sulphur Shelf. To see more fascinating fungi, check out our At-A-Glance Guide to Fungi. |
Tips from the Inn
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Here's a little photo composition tip.
With the ease of use of many of today's cameras, often all you need to really have to worry about is the composition of your picture as the focussing and lighting are taken care of automatically.
These two images are of the same bird but you probably like the lower one better due to the bird's poisition in the scene. If possible, try to give the subject a little bit of space in front of it as this creates a sense that it has a place to go and is not going to hit the side of the frame. |
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Snippets in Nature ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This beautiful snippet was suggested to us by Tony D. of Toronto. Tony explained this is Evergreen Brickworks - a reclaimed industrial site in central Toronto. The site is a wonderful celebration of nature and natural things. It's a great example of the importance of nature in the city and how old, run-down industrial zones can be completely renewed for everyone's benefit.
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| Caption This!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A photo of a slug eyeing a mushroom seems like an interesting scene that would inspire some funny captions. We came up with a couple.
Number one: "Oh... these things are so good, they just can't be good for you!" Number two: "I don't think I could eat another bite. But how do I hide this tasty meal?" 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 might remember last month's picture of two bees on a flower:  Jan P, from Manchester, England sent in this caption: "No, I've done that one. Come and help check this side of the flower!" Thanks for the chuckle, Jan! You can visit the rest of the collections at the Inn: The Mammals | The Birds | The Insects |
Behind the Name
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In this section we examine the meanings behind scientific names.
The Red Columbine has the scientific name Aquilegia Formosa. "Aquilegia" is from the Latin word "aquil" which means eagle and refers to the petals as they flare out like the wings of an eagle in flight. "Formosa" means beautiful and this flower truly is that. The common name "columbine" comes from another Latin word "columbina" which means "dove-like." It seems that birds were sure an inspiration when this plant was named.
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Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carrying two dead squirrels, a vulture tries to check in at the airport for its flight.
"Sorry sir," says the ticket agent. "You're only allowed one carrion."
"Very funny! Can't you see I'm laughing?" |
| Notes from Around the Inn
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A Friendly Reminder
Don't de-head all the flowers in the garden. Leave a few throughout the winter for the birds to feed on.
We Celebrated Autumn!
We already mentioned the Autumn Celebration in this newsletter but wanted to take a extra moment to offer our many thanks to everyone who submitted images for this activity. We really appreciate your help in making this a fun and successful project. You can see the final results 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. |
| Nature Notes
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Did You Know...
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Did you know that even though many birds may appear similar in size, they may have different size eggs?
The Killdeer (above) and the American Robin (below) are both similar size, but the Killdeer's eggs are twice the size of the robins.
This is because there is more nourishment in the Killdeer's eggs which allows the embryo to grow for a longer period of time. This extra time is required because as soon as they hatch the chicks leave the nest immediately whereas the American Robin feeds its young in the nest until they are ready to leave. |
| Trivia Answer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What's the fastest insect? The Dragonfly.
Some dragonflies can fly at 50-60 mph/90-100 km/h. |
| What's This?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's the answer to this month's mystery photograph:
It's the face of the larva of a Lappet moth, Phyllodesma americana.
That was a tough one! How did you do? |
| Whispers
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We thought the name Whispers well-represented the things we love so much in natural world around us: the sounds and changes in nature carried by the wind; the subtle passing of the seasons; the calming serenity of a wildflower garden and the gentle quietness of the forest. Next time you're in a special place in nature, listen to the whispers. |
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Spread the Word ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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.
Any other ideas and suggestions are always welcome. Send us an e-mail!
Watch for the next issue in your mailbox during the first week of December. Until next time, best wishes from your friends at the Dereila Nature Inn - the Cyber Nature Centre for Nature Lovers. | |
