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A curious Blue Grouse, from the heights of the Cascade Mountains in Washington,
bids you a warm welcome to this issue of Whispers.
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Greetings
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Hello everyone! Welcome to Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your cyber nature centre.
As we move into autumn we hope that this newsletter finds you well and rested and that the summer provided you with many exciting experiences in the natural world.
Our newsletter list of subscribers continues to grow! Thanks to everyone for subscribing and supporting our project. |
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Trivia Time
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We've all heard our own echo. Did you know that there's a group of noisy birds that are echo free? Can you name that group?
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 some of the latest additions at the Inn. Just click on the images to go directly to the page.
A Look at Ferns
 These ancient plants offer an astounding beauty to the close observer.
A Look at Shrubs  Learn about some of the fascinating flowers and fruits of these woody plants on this walk through the woods. In The Shadows of Peaks - Alpine Wildflowers
 Find out about some of the smaller and hardier wildflowers. In The Paths of Tides
 Discover some of the secrets created and revealed by the changing tides. To see the latest postings at the Inn as they are added, visit the news and updates page.
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Contributed by... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a community of nature enthusiasts exchanging ideas, stories, tips and images, we invite you to submit nature images to this part of our monthly newsletter.
This picturesque alpine lake is near to Hatcher Pass in Alaska. Many thanks to Jackie M. from Palmer, Alaska for sending in this serene image.
Our second image this month is a little more graphic. Kathryn M, of Calgary captured this amazing image of a Goldenrod spider feasting on a butterfly.
Thanks for the submissions Kathryn and Jackie! If you'd like to see your image as part of our members' section, simply send us an e-mail. |
| Monthly Selections
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each month we select a bird, bug and wildflower of the month. Here are this month's choices:
Click on the images to visit the page and don't forget that we welcome your suggestions for future selections, even if you don't have an image to supply for us. Please send your ideas to us by e-mail.
And a reminder that the year's archives for each are just a click away:
Wildflower Archives | Bug Archives | Bird Archives |
The Wandering Image
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This month finds us wandering down at the sea shore and finding a rather unusual specimen. This is a strange group of animals that make their home on seaweed, mainly bull kelp. It's called kelp encrusting bryozoan, Membranipora sp. As you can see. occasionally the colonies get dislodged.
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Snippets in Nature ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cedar Breaks is a small National Monument in south-western Utah. Here an amazing ampitheatre, created by erosion, plunges over 2,000 feet deep from the top of the 10,000 foot high Markagunt Plateau..
The bowl-like formation is a fascinating feast for the eyes of colourful spires, columns, arches, canyons and hoodoos.
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| Caption This!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each month we would like to invite you to submit a funny caption to go with one of the images in our "Caption This!" collection.
Here's this month's image. A couple of captions we thought of were:
Number 1 - "Will it be much longer?"
Number 2 - from the Doris Day song: "Will I be pretty? Will I be rich?"
If you have a suggestion that will make us chuckle, 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 |
Nature Notes
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| Stories Behind the Pictures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes, there's a story that goes with the photograph.
  The story behind these images was rather strange. Being so used to picture taking using the viewfinder, I find it crazy when people hold their digital camera at arm's length, with gravity pulling at their arm. Since they are not being able to see anything because of the sun on the screen, they end up waving their arms about trying to provide shade to find the subject! A solution to this is to simply use the viewfinder. One is now forced to get down to photograph insects, and this can have pleasing results. To take a photo of this dragonfly on the ground I had to get down low. While steadying myself with one hand, I took a couple of shots. Then the dragonfly flew onto my hand and I ended up with another chance for a picture that we can use on our Caption This! page. |
| Tips from the Inn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This month's tip is for those of you who like to help the birds get through the long winter.
Many of us put out seeds and bird food which is great for many birds. However, for those birds which enjoy fruits and berries, these foods may be well gone when January and February roll around.
In the autumn, when the shrubs or any berry bearing tree are laden with their fruits, pick a few (or a lot). Place them in the freezer for when the colder months arrive, especially those snowy, wintry days. You can then put a few berries each day until things improve. Those berry-loving birds would really appreciate this little snack.
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Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A three-year-old boy went with his dad to see a new litter of kittens. On returning home, he breathlessly informed his mother, "There were two boy kittens and two girl kittens."
"How did you know that?" his mother asked.
"Daddy picked them up and looked underneath," he replied. "I think it's printed on the bottom."
(When we looked in our files for a cat - this was the only one we had! Not quite what the joke requires but we know you will understand the situation!)
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| Trivia Answer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What popular bird's echo can't be heard? It's those noisy ducks! It is not known why that is, but it's believed that the tone of a duck's quack is close to that of the tone of the echo, making it very hard to hear.
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| Notes from Around the Inn
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We're got several projects in progress for the next few weeks including more galleries, visits to special places and a photo feature on the magic of running water and the wonders found where waters flow. If there is something in particular that you'd like to see featured - please just let us know by e-mail. Search the InnYou may have noticed that we're adding search boxes on several pages. These allow you to search the Inn quickly for a topic, information or image quickly. Try them out! Site Map
Our site map is a handy, straight-forward way to find your way around the Inn. You'll find a link to the map at the bottom of most pages, or you can visit the map here. Where Are You?
We're very curious to know where members of our community are. Why not take a moment to send us a note indicating your location? It would be interesting to see how far-flung we all are! Book Recommendations
You may have noticed that we've been placing more and more featured books on our various pages. We receive a very small commission from anything purchased through the Inn on Amazon.ca or Amazon.com - not just recommended books - which all helps pay for our webspace and other expenses. So please, shop with us and support our project! Pay-Pal Accepted - or a cheque!
We have had a few people inquire about donating to help with our costs. Apart from making a purchase through amazon.ca or amazon.com (see above) you can help out by making a credit card donation through Pay Pal. Just click on the Pay Pal logo on the main home page or site map. If you don't want to use a credit card and would prefer a contribution by cheque, simply e-mail us or write to address at the bottom of this newsletter and we'll be happy to send the details for that to you. Thanks again for your support! Visit Our Forum
Just a reminder about and an invitation to visit our forum - The Nature Hut, where you can meet other nature lovers, upload your nature images and enjoy stories of sighting and experiences. Visit the Hut by clicking on the logo below.
Suggestions, Ideas and Feedback
We invite and welcome your contributions, thoughts and comments. Please, take a moment to send us an e-mail.
If you're a new subscriber to Whispers you might be interested to know that past issues are available online - simply click here. We upload the issues as new ones are released, so as you receive this edition we will be uploading last month's issue. Next Issue
Our next issue will be in your Inbox in the first week of October. Until then, thanks once again for supporting this project and may your experiences in nature be wonderful! |
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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!
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