I try to carry my camera whenever we're doing something outdoors-y, and it's really been interesting to learn all about the local wildlife. I had been under the assumption for quite a long time that the Northeast was someone bereft of "interesting" fauna (whatever that means), but more time in the woods has shown me otherwise.
I also think wildlife photography can be done with a "reasonable" budget (whatever that means) if you know how to work within your limitations. I'm not using six thousand dollar super telephotos - I don't think there even is one available for Fuji - but I think I can still get good results that are artistically interesting.
A few of my favorites:
Insects can be easy to photograph, as many stay very still, especially in hot weather:
Birds are not impossible! I don't think I'll ever get a lot of close-up, frame-filling images of birds, but they can still be presented artistically:
Opportunities I've missed because I didn't bring my camera that day - river otters, foxes, an osprey(this far north!), herons, lots of interesting stuff. There's a lot of nature out there!