Looking toward the northeast. I've put in two bluebird boxes (actually had bluebirds and chickadees nest in the closer box.) To my right, outside of view, is a privacy fence put up by the neighbors. The poor state of the lawn is apparent here. To the far right, see the old rotting railroad ties that border the garden bed that the previous owners were using as a landfill. I had yet to discover that because I hadn't started digging back there at this point. Also around the garden bed are several white mulberry bushes, and the dead tree is behind that. Toward the middle of the photo, behind the rightmost bluebird box, is a small spruce that is intertwined with a maple tree. Behind that, out of view, is the grapevine. To the left of the leftmost bluebird box are a couple of out of place shrubs/trees intertwined with spruce trees. Inside the big clump of evergreens there is a lot of buckthorn.

Compare with the same view 8 years later, in November 2014. The bluebird box and the oak tree are good points of reference.