Mutual of Omaha presents. . .

. . . our backyard.  ☺   (That's a seventies tv reference for those of you old enough to remember it.)  It's been a hotbed of wildlife activity around here since spring.  Here are a few of our sightings, and some pictures, such as they are.

One.

Two.

You guessed it.

We have a hawk's nest in the woods directly behind our house and have had fun watching the three youngsters grow stronger (and louder).  Needless to say, we haven't seen that many squirrels and chipmunks hanging around, or at least not for long. . .

We think this is Mama, keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings.

Wild turkeys seem to be overtaking this area of Massachusetts, and we have one that enjoys a shady corner of our backyard.  She can be seen hanging out there from time to time before turkey-stepping back into the woods.

"Our" robin was back several weeks ago, using last year's nest in our holly bush by our front walk.  This location made it easy for the kids to peek carefully at the nest every couple of days or so.  That blue of the eggs is my favorite color.  And it was such a treat to watch the mother bird give the babies flying lessons.  As they went from hatchlings to being out of the nest and hopping about the yard to flying, it amazed me again how quickly they go from being newborns to fending for themselves.

Other birds love the woods here, and we've had visits from our friendly neighborhood downy woodpeckers are well as a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers, among others.

Downies

We also sighted a snake, a painted turtle, and a snapping turtle, all within days of each other, all on our smallish suburbanish property.

All this busy-ness keeps our own not-so-wildlife happy.