In my back yard

I've always been an outdoorsy, nature, type girl. I grew up in the Midwest and I loved going into the woods and camping and going to the state parks and enjoying all that nature had to offer. I worried that I wouldn't have that when I moved back to Florida. For all intents and purposes Florida was really foreign to me (despite the fact that I was born here and apparently wrestled alligators as a small child- or so I've been told). I knew I'd have the ocean, which is more than enough for me, but the ocean is a 45min drive away and I can't be there near as much as I'd like to be. What I do have is a lake in my back yard, as well as something I really love about this area....birds. Not the robins and cardinals and blue birds I grew up with but something that is a little more exotic for a Midwest girl.

We have a family of Sandhill Cranes in our back yard!   It's a momma, daddy and two babies.   The kids and I have been watching the babies get bigger everyday.  They come right to our back door, sometimes peck at our windows and they sound like velociraptors.

We also have other water fowl that like to stand on the bank of the lake.

And yesterday we discovered a bald eagle!

We do get an occasional alligator in the lake and there are plenty of turtles, as well as snake birds, ducks, ect..  But these are are favorites.  My 6yo has named the entire sandhill crane family -Cala, Lala, Tulla and Tallulah.  It's definitely an adventure to look out my back windows and see what new life is out there and even more fun getting the kids excited about it.  

   What about you?  What's in your back yard?