w is for wildlife

Coming from Australia means every American animal I see is exciting.  In my three years of living in Midtown Atlanta, I was lucky to see the occasional duck, Canadian goose or squirrel in the city's parks.  Sometimes when I was really lucky I would see a chipmunk, cardinal or blue jay.  The really impressive animals lived outside of the city and I used to love visiting friends and family in the suburbs or driving out to the state parks because there I was guaranteed to see any one (or all) of the exciting, camera-worthy ones.  That is those deer, foxes, rabbits, armadillos, possums, skunks, hawks, owls, pheasants, turkeys, storks - I even saw a beaver once!

My most beloved place was Will's grandparents'.  I cherish the afternoons I used to spend sitting in their backyard bird watching.  I saw my first hummingbird, yellow finch and woodpecker there.  It was such a happy, peaceful place - when my dogs weren't around!  If the dogs happened to be inside or left at home, the chipmunk that lives in their garden would come out to say hello and the squirrels would climb down from the trees to forage in the grass.  It was bliss!

Since moving to the suburbs of Austin, I have wildlife all around me.  Here are the ones I see 

every day: 

(all photos were taken by me - some aren't very good, sorry!) 

squirrels 

mockingbirds 

blue jays

dragonflies 

and right now I'm seeing squirrels daily, eating my mulberries!

Here are some animals I see occasionally:

Cardinals

stags

does 

deer crossing

I also occasionally see woodpeckers (the real ones with red heads!), possums and raccoons but I don't have photos yet.  And here are some incredible (incredibly sad) photos I took shortly after moving to Austin - thankfully I haven't' seen it since: 

vulture eating squirrel 

vulture and squirrel