Welcome to Whispers  
Welcome to October's issue of the Dereila Nature Inn newsletter.  
  
Welcome to Whispers

In Canada's Yukon Territory autumn creeps in bringing with
it changing colours and preparing us for the upcoming winter.
Greetings
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Hello everyone!

Here we are with another issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your virtual nature centre. 

We'd like to welcome our new subscribers this month and we hope you'll all enjoy the trivia, photos, news and tips in this issue.

We are grateful to those of you who have sent in ideas and contributions, and we appreciate everyone's support of our nature website. Many thanks to you all!
  
Join us on Facebook
Please join us on Facebook where we welcome your comments and ideas.
 
Trivia Time
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Which is the only mammal that cannot jump?
 
You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.
What's This?
 
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Do you know what this cropped close-up photograph is? You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.

Close-ups In Nature

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 latest additions at the Inn.  Just click on the images and you'll be taken straight to the page. 

Walking in the Wild - The Birds
We have added four more birds to this series of fact and photo pages: 
Click to visitClick to visitClick to visit  
Click to visit 
Click to visit

Dragonflies and Damselflies Crossword
If you know the difference between a Common Whitetail and a Variable Darner, try this crossword with over a dozen different Dragonflies and Damselflies.
  

     

 Find the latest additions on the news/updates page.
  
Contributed by...
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We invite you to submit nature photographs to this section. This month we have another super variety of wildlife images.

Contibuted image
Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, by Tony D. of Toronto, ON, taken in Prince Edward Island.

Singing Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia, also by Tony D.
 
 

American Toad, Bufo americanus, from Susan Asis, Flushing, NY. 
 

 European Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis, sent to us by
Laura of South Edinburgh, Scotland.

  

  Many thanks for your great photographs and thanks
for taking the time to send them in to us. 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 - Bumblebee Robber Fly; Wildflower - Smooth Hawksbeard Lily; Bird - Sooty Grouse.

Bug of the Month - click to visit  Wildflower of the Month - click to visit  Bird of the Month -  click to visit
 
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

We have created many At-A-Glance Guides over the past few years.  These are visual guides with thumbnail images. Clicking on the thumbnail opens up a pop-up window with a larger photograph of the subject matter.  This month's feature page is our At-A-Glance Guide to Butterflies.  It features over three dozen different butterflies organized by family.  Visit it by clicking here.

Click to visit 

The Wandering Image
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This month we came across an interesting organism
while exploring the moist coastal rainforest.

Wandering Image


This is a Yellow-Spotted Millipede, Harpaphe haydeniana, which grows to about 2 in/5 cm long. It is also called Cyanide Millepede beacuse of the fact that when threatened it has the interesting ability to secrete hydrogen cyanide!  As a result, it has very few predators.

Caption This! 
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Here's our monthly image ready for your humourous caption along with a couple of our ideas.  Just what do you think this Pileated Woodpecker is saying?

Caption needed!


Number one: "Yoohoo! Are you there?"
Number two: "Hello! Where's my suet? It's lunch time!" 
 
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
 
Snippets in Nature
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Snippets in Nature


 Nestled in Canada's stunning Yoho National Park in southeastern British Columbia is Emerald Lake.  This is a truly special place of beauty especially with the surrounding mountains and dazzling colours of the water. There are hiking trails to explore and in the winter it's a great place for snowshoeing or cross-country skiing.
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If you think you have a suitable photograph for this section please send us an e-mail along
with a brief explanation.  We look forward to your ideas and submissions.

Behind the Name 
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Behind the Name
Shrubby Cinquefoil, Potentilla fruticosa,  is a shrub with flowers that have 5 petals.  The scientific genus name Potentilla, comes from a Latin word meaning powerful as it was believed to have healing properties.  The species name, fruticosa, simply means shrubby. The common name is also derived from Latin words: quinque meaning five and folium meaning leaf.

Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A drunk coyote was walking through the woods when he bumped into a tree.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said.
 
A little further on he bumped into another tree.
 
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Then he sat down and thought to himself, I'd better sit here and wait until those fools pass by.

   

Joke of the Month

"It's always the best thing to do."  
Notes, News and Tips from Around the Inn
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Facebook
Find us on FacebookWe invite you to post comments on our Facebook page.  To visit, just click on the logo or here.


A Little Reminder
Tips from the Inn

When you're cleaning up the garden in preparation for winter, be sure to leave a few plants with seed heads.  When the snows arrive, you'll find that the birds really appreciate the food as this junco did.
  
Tips from the Inn

Tip
It doesn't take much to create a natural scene for your photographs, simply by using a few of nature's props.  Try securing a branch or twig to the top of a railing at your bird feeding station.  This one is lichen-covered and tumbled down during a storm.

 Birds usually take a cautious approach and check things out for a moment.  This gives you an opportunity to take a couple of photographs. This House Finch posed on the branch within an hour of it being secured on the railing.  

 While the House Finch landed on the left end of the prop, this junco settled on the other end.  The resulting photographs are great improvements over having the birds sitting on a railing.
 

Photos Wanted!
We are in the process of completing our state reptiles page and are in need of images of the following:

Alabama Red-bellied Turtle; Desert Tortoise; Gopher Tortoise; Diamondback Terrapin; Three-toed Box Turtle; Snapping Turtle; Northern Black Racer; Loggerhead Sea Turtle; and Texas Horned Lizard. If you can help out with a photo of two, please let us know via e-mail

 

Photo Notecards Now on Sale!

 Click for more details

To help pay for the costs of running the Inn website and providing this newsletter we are now selling a selection of blank photo note cards.  We have two sets - birds and special places and will be adding more in the future.  They cost only $3 each or a real deal at 4 for $10 with free postage!  For more information and to place an order using PayPal, please click here.

 

Picture of the Week  

Click to visit 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 

Great Rivers 

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Great Rivers

The Red Deer River flows through the Alberta badlands in this photograph taken near Drumheller, Alberta. The river starts high in the eastern Canadian Rockies and meanders across southern Alberta and into Saskatachewan where it flows into the South Saakatchewan River.  The Red Deer has a length of 450 miles/725 km.

Did You Know... 
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Did you know image

 Did you know that these circular cuts on leaves are made by bees? 

 

Leaf-cutting Bees very quickly cut out the round section and
take the pieces of leaf for nest building.

State and Provincial Symbols 
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State/provincial Emblem Image 

 

 Florida's state butterfly is the Zebra Longwing, Heliconius charithona.  It is a common insect in the southeast US and can live to a ripe-old age of three months.

No Canadian provinces have selected offical butterflies (yet) but 19 American states have.  To see our collection, just click here.

Trivia Answer 
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Trivia Answer 

The elephant is the only mammal that is unable to jump.
What's This? 
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What's this answer

If you guessed that this month's mystery photo was a mushroom,
sadly you were incorrect.  It's a Shamrock Orb-weaver Spider, Araneus trifolium
 
Nature Notes
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Visit the Bird's Nest Lounge for lots of bird information

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.

Your ideas and suggestions are always welcome, send us an e-mail.

Watch for the next issue of Whispers in your inbox during the first week of November. See you then!