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Welcome to our monthly celebration of nature and photography!

THIS MONTH:
» Quiz - Some Mighty Beasts!
» Five Things About... Butterflies
» Names of groups of birds

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Mount Wilson
Barnacles, whelks and chitons remind us to go exploring!
This month brings us the low tides and the chance to see many of these animals.
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Where's Lily?

While you're reading this month, be sure to keep an eye out for Lily the Ladybug.

She's managed to hide in one of the photos, but which one?!


Which wildflower contains a chemical that speeds the formation of blood clots on wounds?

Compare your answer with the answer at the end of the newsletter. 


Here's a close-up image to test your mystery-solving skills.
As usual, you'll find the answer at the end of the newsletter.

Great Spangled Fritillary, Speyeria cybeleGreat Spangled Fritillary, Speyeria cybele
_ Their are some 725 species of butterflies in North America - and 22,000 around the world! They are found on every continent except Antarctica.
     
  When butterflies land, they usually hold their wings up close together so you can't always see their lovely wing patterns.
     
  The scales on butterfly wings are actually tiny, flat hairs which create the dazzling colours and patterns we love to admire.
     
  Butterflies have six legs, four wings, two antennae (which are often club-tipped), two compound eyes and a proboscis which is special organ used for sucking and feeding.
     
  Butterflies can only fly when their wing muscles are warm, so they bask in the sun with their wings soaking up energy like solar panels.

Grab a piece of paper and test yourself by identifying these amazing and mighty beasts.
         
Number 1
 
Number 2
a. Grizzly Bear

_ a. American Elk
b. Yogi Bear

  b. Moose
c. Brown Bear

  c. White-tailed Deer
d. Black Bear   d. Mule Deer
         
Number 3
 
Number 4
a. Gray Wolf   a. American Elk
b. Coyote
  b. Moose
c. Red Fox

  c. Caribou
d. Wile E. Coyote   d. Mule Deer
         
Number 5
Number 6
a. American Elk

  a. Caribou
b. Moose

  b. American Elk
c. Caribou

  c. White-tailed Deer
d. Mule Deer   d. Mule Deer
         
Number 7
Number 8
a. Caribou

  a. Coyote
b. American Elk

  b. Canadian Wolf
c. White-tailed Deer

  c. Gray Wolf
d. Mule Deer   d. American Wolf
 
See how well you did by checking your answers later in the newsletter!
         

Demonstrate your wisdom and nature know-how by throwing
a few fascinating nature words into your daily conversations!
 
I was surprised to read that 60% of the planet's birds belong to a group called passerines. A passerine is
  a. a bird that migrates.
  b. an insect-eating bird.
  c. a perching bird.
  d. a sea bird.
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You'll find the answer at the end of this month's Whispers.

Did you know that this photograph shows a whorled cluster? It's one of several different ways that flowers are arranged.

On top of this, the flowers in a cluster come in a variety of shapes. For example, some look like a bell and others like a funnel.

As we move into a great time of the year for viewing wildflowers, we thought it would be a super time to feature our page: Flower Shapes and Clusters.


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Jim Noeninger of Shiloh, Illinois was fortunate to take some exciting photographs of some Bald Eagles.
Jim had a good time with the eagles co-operating and posing for him!
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This beautiful Silver-spotted Skipper, Epargyreus clarus, comes from Dennis Coop of Sherwood, Arkansas.
Here's a very happy looking Great Blue Heron with a yummy lunch, spotted by Gail Freiherr of Knoxville, TN
     
W. C. Durnil of Chino Valley, Arizona, captured this lovely picture of a young deer having a bite to eat.

Thank you Jim, Dennis, W.C. and Gail for the fabulous photographs and for
taking the time to send them in for us all to enjoy. We really appreciate it.

If you have a nature image you'd like to see in this section, please let us know!.


This month we wandered around and came upon a very special secret place created by a pair of Killdeers.
Do you have an idea for a fun caption for this photo of two Goldeneyes?
Here are some ideas:

#1 - "Wow! You won't believe what's down here."
#2 - "Hey! Why don't you watch where you're going?"

If this month's photo inspires you, please send us your caption in an e-mail.


In Olympic National Park, Washington, is an extraordinary and easily accessed place: Hurricane Ridge. As its name implies, it can be quite stormy here however it is noted for its wonderful alpine wildflowers.

___Enjoying a lazy day in the sun, a young snake slithered over to his mother.
___"Mom," he asked, "are we poisonous?"
___"No son," replied mother snake. "Why do you ask?"
___The young son answered, "Because I just bit myself."
"Thank goodness for that as I was worried for a while."

Thanks to
Sheila in Victoria who sent in this joke for us.
 

Our Monthly Selections
Here are this month's choices:
Bird - Olive-sided Flycatcher | Wildflower - Purple Sanicle | Bug -  Coelioxys rufitarsis

Click to visit__ Click to visit__Click to visit
Click on the images to visit the pages.
A Little Reminder
With the spring comes a few new family members and they sometimes wander on to the roads. Please stay alert for these young 'uns.
Tips and Ideas
The cheapest place to find these suet blocks is your local dollar store. We use them to make our home-made suet go a bit further. When your favourite recipe is ready for pouring into a tray, melt the store-bought block in the microwave and add it to your mix.
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Bushtits enjoy their favourite surt on a pine cone
Here is a favourite home-made suet recipe from our Recipe Collection that lots of bird, especially these Bushtits, really enjoy.

Ingredients:
  1/2 cup lard
1/2 cup suet (usually found in the supermarket's frozen pies/pastry section)
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup flour
1 cup oats
1 cup cornmeal
handful of birdseed (optional)
dried eggshells - roll them out with a rolling pin until they are like dust (optional)
   
Method:
  Melt lard, suet and peanut butter in the microwave until soft and runny.

Add remaining ingredients and let cool a bit.

Before it's too solid, pour into moulds or place in suet holders - or - better yet put into a pine cone.
 

About Birds: Bird Group Names - Part One
Demonstrate your bird intellect and incorporate some of these rarely used collective nouns when referring to flocks or groups of birds. They are presented in no specific order.
         

A gaggle or skein of geese
 

A band or party of jays
 

A cover or raft of coots
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A flush of mallards
 

A descent of woodpeckers
 

A tiding(s) of magpies
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A congress or convocation
of eagles
   

A conspiracy or murder of ravens
   

A colony or screech of gulls

A fling of dunlin
   

A siege of herons
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A coil of wigeon
 

A whiteness, gaggle, bank,
bevy or gargle of swans
 

A host of sparrows
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Falcon  
Barn Swallow
  Turkey vultures
A cast of falcons
 
A flight of swallows
 
A venue of vultures
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A herd of wrens
 
 

A peep of chickens
   
A cloud or cluster of blackbirds
   
         
More coming next month!
Picture of the Week
Click to visit   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.
 
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Past Issues
If you want to see any of the past issues of Whispers, they are available here.

 
On June 8, make sure you remember to take a moment to honour and celebrate the oceans of our planet as it's World Oceans Day.
For events and ideas, click here.
National Pollinator Week is a time to celebrate and acknowledge the importance of the pollinating birds, insects and other animals.
Click here for more information.

Did you know that the colour of an owl's eyes can tell you when it hunts?
Owls with yellow eyes hunt mainly during the day.
Owls with dark eyes hunt during the night and those with orange eyes hunt at dusk or dawn.


The delicious Blackberry is Kentucky's state fruit.
 

Yarrow has many healing properties including stopping the flow of blood from wounds.

This month's mystery image is a European Starling.
 

A passerine is
c. a perching bird.

Most passerines are also songbirds and many will visit your bird-feeding station.
 

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1 - d. Black Bear
2 - d. Mule Deer
3 - b. Coyote
4 - a. American Elk
             
5 - b. Moose
6 - a. Caribou
7 - c. White-tailed Deer
8 - c. Gray Wolf
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Click here to learn more about mammals

Still looking for Lily?

If you need a little clue, click here!
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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!
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