Yard Work and outdoor nature in our backyard

We live in the 'burbs and we need to keep the yard moved, least the neighbors complain.  My kids chores include mowing our front and back yards.  My kids hate mowing but I love mowing.  The mower is a loud, scary machine that isolates you from anyone approaching.  I suppose you can say it's "quiet."  So now, I (or my husband) mows and the kids weed.  They weed the garden, the bushes, the lawn and the cracks in the patio.  This weekend we had quite a few surprises.

I should first point out that we put a plastic owl in our backyard to scare away nature.  It seemed to attract them.  Second, even the tween and teen enjoyed the backyard critters (except the fact that the bird ate all our strawberries).  They even had me taking pictures of bugs and picking up worms to put in the garden.

Second, we did not get pictures of the many birds that visit (blue bird, chickadee, cardinals and robins) and other critters (chipmunks that hop from pot to pot looking for our potted strawberries and rabbits).

In short, do some yard work - it's an adventure.

Just missed mowing over him

Bird caught in strawberry cage - we need a new plan
Video gets a better glimpse

We woke up to ravens in our backyard - perhaps they were looking at the bird caught in the strawberries.