Wildlife Habitat

As winter settles in, I am constantly surprised at the wildlife we see in our backyard. We bought a house in a community that is a Wildlife Community Habitat, certified by the National Wildlife Federation. We have a lot of trails, wetlands, woodlands and parks to explore in our neighborhood. The HOA building is even a Nature Center. They have turtles, snakes, frogs, rabbits and other wildlife for the kids to go check out (OK I guess they aren't wild if they are kept in cages and aquariums). So though we are in the midst of suburbia, we are in a community that cares about the habitat and wildlife. You can even go as far as having your backyard designated as a Backyard Habitat. The previous owners had done this and we have a cute sign in our backyard, but I am still trying to figure out what I need to do to maintain that. I am sure that will be a good project for the spring.

Anyway, the other day as Blunoz was off at the Brunswick Model Railroad Museum for some MAN time with the boys, I was trying to be productive and went upstairs to change the sheets on ES's bed. I glanced out the window to the pond in the backyard and could not figure out what that "thing" sticking out of the pond was. Oh wait, that is a LARGE bird. I ran and grabbed the camera...

A Great Blue Heron was in my backyard!

As I was snapping pictures of the Great Blue Heron, I noticed this guy twittering around in our crepe myrtle trees off the side of our deck.

All I saw in Hawaii in my neighborhood was Mongooses...