Bald Eagle

As we peer through the branches of a rainforest, we catch the sight of
a bald eagle as it awaits the arrival of spring.  
Greetings
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Welcome to February's issue of Whispers, the newsletter of the Dereila Nature Inn - your cyber nature centre. 

As we enter our third year we're very excited with the tremendous response and support we have received from everyone. 

This month we have some new additions to the Inn to tell you about as well as tips, photos and stories we hope you'll enjoy.

Many thanks for subscribing and being part of this project!
Trivia Time
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We start off each month with a trivia question.  Here's this month's:

Most creatures have two eyes, but some have many more.  Which sea creature has five eyes or eye spots?

You'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.

 
New Features at the Inn
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This month we have new features from the sea to the forest. Just click on the images to go directly to the page.

Click to visit.Picture of the Week
 
In this new weekly feature you'll find a selection of nature images that we hope you'll enjoy.  

 


Click to visit.The Spiders Around Us  
 
Overcome your fears and superstitions about spiders. Find out more about these eight-legged creatures.




Click to visitBeneath the Waves 

Encounter some zooids, a Turkish Towel and some Feather Boa Kelp in this exploration of interesting seaweeds and rockweeds that are found tossed onto the seashore or living in intertidal zones.


 
Click to visitLichens At-A-Glance Gallery 

With names like Peppermint Drop, Tattered Rag and Old Man's Beard, lichens are a fascinating field of study. Our At-A-Glance page will introduce you to over two dozen lichens which grow on trees. 
 

To see the latest postings at the Inn as they are added, visit the news and updates page.
 

Contributed by...
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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 month we have two super images sent in by W.C. Durnil of Chino Valley in beautiful Arizona.

Contributed image 1

Butterfly on a Butterfly Bush - Chino Valley, AZ

Contributed image #2

Sphynx Moth - Chino Valley, AZ

Thanks for the amazing photographs!

If you would like to see your image as part of our members' section,
simply send us an e-mail.
Monthly Selections 
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Each month we select a bird, bug and wildflower of the month. Here are this month's choices:

Insect of the Month  Flower of the Month  Bird of the Month
     
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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Our wandering image this month takes us to the Pacific Rainforest where ferns thrive in the lush, moist environment.

Wandering Image

This one is the Common Lady Fern, Athyrium filix-femina, a stunning plant with a delightful pattern.  Ferns are considered to be ancient plants having envolved over millions of years.  Unlike most plants which reproduce by seeds, ferns do so by spores. 

For more images and information, visit the Inn's A Look at Ferns page.
Snippets in Nature ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This month we flash back to warmer summer days and a hike in the Canadian Rockies to Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in south-east British Columbia. 

Snippet of the Month

Mount Assiniboine is a beautiful sentinel of the mountains.  With its pyramid-shaped peak, it stands proudly overlooking its domain.  At 3618 metres (11,870 feet) it is the sixth highest mountain in Canada's Rockies. Here Assiniboine peaks out over the small wilderness Lake Og.

Snippets in Nature

 Nestled below Mount Assiniboine is Lake Magog. 

 
Caption This! 
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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.  This month a Great Blue Heron is featured.  We've given you a couple of ideas, but we're sure you'll come up with some better ones.

Caption this image

Number one: "My name is MacNamara and I'm the leader of the band."
Number two: "If you're important, you have to look important."

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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Click here to do some online jigsaw puzzles featuring our furry friends.

Stories Behind the Pictures 
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Behind the Image

In a previous newletter, we mentioned that saving a few berries in the fall for the colder part of the winter can help you get some super photos. 

Behind the image

Red berries saved from a Mountain Ash tree were placed in this shrub, just visible in the picture.  The thrushes and robins soon found them and it was time to take a photo or two.
What's This? 
 
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In this new feature, can you figure out what this cropped close-up is?  Is it a bug, rock, butterfly or something else completely?

Close-ups In Nature

You'll find the answer below.
 
Be sure to visit our pages of Close-ups in Nature.
 
Joke of the Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While driving down a country lane, a man accidently runs over a squirrel.  He gets out of his car to see if he can help but sadly, it's dead.

His wife jumps out of the car saying, "I have an idea."

She then takes a spray can from her bag and sprays the squirrel.  It suddenly jumps up, waves its paw at the two of them and goes off down the road.  Ten feet away it suddenly stops, turns around and waves again.  It continues doing this until it's out of sight.
 
The husband is astonished! 

"What on earth is in that can?" he asks.

"Well," says his wife, "it's hair spray and it says on the can that it restores life and gives a permanent wave."

Joke of the Month photo

And this squirrel says, "Thanks goodness for hairspray!"
Notes from Around the Inn
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Add a Google Gadget to Your iGoggle Homepage
You can now add a gadget to your iGoogle hompage featuring images from the our wessite.  It's colourful, free and easy.  For more information visit the Inn's Add a Google Gadget page.

Search the Inn
You 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!

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! 

Suggestions, Ideas and Feedback
We invite and welcome your contributions, thoughts and comments.  Please, take a moment to send us an e-mail.
 
Past Issues
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 March. See you then!
Trivia Answer 
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Starfish have five eyes, one at the tip of each of its arms.

Trivia Answer 

What's This? 
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If you guessed a juvenile, female Red-winged Blackbird, you guessed correctly!

What's this answer

 (If you guessed "the eye of a bird" - well done, too!) 
 
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!
 
Contact Information
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Until next time, best wishes from your friends at the Dereila Nature Inn - a Cyber Nature Inn for Nature Lovers.
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