I've always loved wildlife and nature and near my hometown in Eastern Canada, there are many nice areas of untouched nature. My favorite one is about 3 km outside of town. It has a large forest of huge evergreen and maple trees, a large river flowing through, and a nice beach with driftwood, white sand and lots of plants and wildlife.

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It's a great place to spend afternoons from spring to fall and not many people know about it, so I have it to myself most of the time. It's great that not many other people know about it because it's very quiet and there is very little garbage around, and if there is, I pick it up and take it home to keep the area clean.

Some of the animals that I've seen are

great blue herons,

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ducks, raccoons, groundhogs,

chipmunks,

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squirrels, foxes, skunks, hummingbirds,

partridge,

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even the occasional moose and deer.

It's my favorite place to spend time to relax and enjoy nature, I guess that's why I care so much about protecting the environment. I hope everyone has a place like this where they live.

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That's a really good picture of a great blue heron. I find it nearly impossible to get a good picture of them because they are very shy for such large birds, they always fly away before you can get close to them.

Always trust your librarian (me) to find good photos! I thought the chipmunk and partridge were pretty cute too!

I've tried to photograph them too. My little dog would bark at the one parked outside of my parents' house on a lake, and the heron would bark back. A really raucous squawk totally out of character for such a beautiful and graceful bird. Sort of an Afflack duck sound.

How about this heron one?

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