I live 20 miles or so from you in Johnston county and the birds and insects are in abundance here.
There is a flock of geese that goes over my house every evening that numbers in as many as 60 at a time. The mocking birds are driving me crazy. I hate them personally as they drive other birds away and I'm not seeing as many blue birds now. Sparrows everywhere and robins scouring the yard for worms. Hawks, man the hawks are nesting all around me. Screeching aerial fights and they perch on my fench half a dozen at a time catching moles in my yard. Falcons catching mice in the field across the street. We have foxes, bears, coyotes, bobcats, rabbits, deer, bats and tons of turkeys. My daughter and I find new bugs everyday to talk about. Snakes, lizards and turtles galore. Once breeding season starts the roads around here are like a turtle slalom course. This area still has farms and folks around here keep farm animals and grow gardens. This all means food for wildlife. Acres upon acres of developed land with perfectly manicured lawns and HOA appoved landscaping that usually includes non-indiginous and invasive plant species does not attract wildlife and that's basically what Wake county has become. On the bright side, you don't have to wash bird poop and bugs off your car everyday.