I always have lots of squirrels and chipmunks there, frequently rabbits in residence, sometimes racoons, occasionally a skunk passing through
, and lots of birds. I once saw a Great Blue Heron standing on the roof of the house behind mine, but I never expected to see a raptor having lunch in my backyard. If I hadn't been looking out my kitchen window waiting for the kettle to boil to fill my teapot, I'd never have seen it drop to the ground. First we thought it was injured, due to the strange way it was moving, until we realized it was trying to subdue its prey. My neighbour a few numbers up the street has feeders in her back yard, and there are always flocks of birds sitting on her roof, and often flying up in alarmed flocks. From the colour of the feathers that were left, I think the victim was one of them.
Ottawa is a fairly good place for seeing a variety of birds, because of the greenbelt, but you still need the luck to be looking at the right time. This summer my wife saw an osprey take a fish out of the Ottawa River; I was sitting next to her and missed it completely.