Yep, right here in my back yard in the middle of suburbia, we have a sort of wildlife sanctuary, and neighborhood birds and animals visit every day.  Now, we don’t get much that’s really exotic, though neighbors have seen a coyote, raccoons, and even a black bear.  Our furry and feathered friends seem to like our bird feeders, and the droppings under the feeders, left by the very messy birds.

That’s one of our red-breasted nuthatches.  We have at least two pairs who visit.

The squirrels use the back fence as their superhighway, and they do clean up the fallen birdseed under the seed feeder.  They bury nuts in the soil in the yard, because I see little holes in the late fall when they dig them up.  That doesn’t bother me, since it helps aerate the soil, which was never very good in the first place.

Here’s our varied thrush, and my favorite Townsend’s warbler.  The warbler used to only come around in the winter, but now we see him year-round, which is a real treat.

Finally, here’s our Red-shafted Flicker.  That suet feeder was just made for him!

One good tern deserves another…and another…and another!  I spotted this mixed flock of terns and skimmers on the beach at Cape May, New Jersey, in October of 2012.  Five days later, Superstorm Sandy hit.  This day, however was warm (in the 70s), and we had a pleasant walk on the nearly-deserted beach.

Here’s the link to Terri’s original post.