Here Birdie, Birde

So one of the things that I love about having made the move to the suburbs is the wealth of small animal life. As Lucy has already discovered we have bunnies, squirrels, and lil chipmunks (also shrew-like mammals that the hawks keep dropping in the pool....not so cute). There is also a wealth of flying life that makes for nice, peaceful background noise around the pool. There are robins, sparrows, owls, woodpeckers, and love birds (along with some others I haven't yet identified). I also found the blue jay hangout at the local park...so they don't just steal tater tots from the sonics. As much as I enjoy the bird, it seems also that the last owner did too. He incorporated them into some of the exterior design elements. Here is an example from the back of the house:

Not to be outdone, there is one for the front hose too:

As adorable as both of these guys are, they have nothing on the painting on the back fence:

The ivy has done a number on the painting over the last couple of years. I keep trimming it back, but it is a tenacious plant. Regardless, I think these little touches are really charming and they make me appreciate the little critters even more.