Wild Turkeys Couldn't Keep Me Away from Beaver Lake and the Sanctuary. We walk around Beaver Lake almost every week, visit our neighbors. We continue to be amazed with the light-flashing waters. The surrounding mountains border the Beaver Lake as if to entice a canvas from some modern-day French Impressionist . The acres of open space where kids play, the families finding picnic spots, and just beyond, the canoes awaiting turns to glide by all participate in this colorful scene. A sense of "all's right" in the world seems to be in the air.
If you are a birder, you will love the Beaver Lake Sanctuary where you can spot LOONS, GREBES, CORMORANTS, HERONS, SWANS, GEESE, AND DUCKS. HUMMINGBIRDS and WOODPECKERS...just to name a few. There's one species that you might not find there...
(hint-hint...see photo I took on the way home last night)...
...it's the wild turkey....but I can tell you, for sure, that wild turkeys do live and prosper nearby.
Here's a checklist my birding friends take with them when they walk the boardwalk into the Beaver Lake Sanctuary. Being a fancier of nature, I'm a big fan of this place. The sanctuary was established in the mid-1980s, when the Audubon Society successfully led an effort to prevent construction of a strip mall on the site.
The Lakeview Park neighborhood is right up the hill from Beaver Lake and the Sanctuary. . This is a "sustainable" neighborhood in which people who live there absolutely delight.
I actually have known eco-friendly re-modelers to completely reconstruct a home to make it green to the bones, just to live in this neighborhood.
Where an awareness and appreciation of nature, wildlife and natural ecosystems, and responsible environmental stewardship come together, that's Asheville's green real estate scene...and wild turkeys couldn't keep me away from all the eco-innovation that's happening here!
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Duane~
Now don't say that about these birds being "ugly"...
.you might get some tails turned on ya' =)
and that could be quite a sight!
Charlie~
I am wondering if they are as "tame" as they are here in Asheville...can you get up close to them to take photos without a zoom lens?
Tiffany~
Last summer the mother hen turkey had her chicks line up on our garage roof to take flight! it was an amazing sight. I wish I had had my camera handy them.
janeAnne - What a wonderful wildlife sanctuary! I would love to visit the grounds. I am glad it is not a strip mall!
Duane~
Glad you enjoyed my little bit of fan-tail humor ...
Teri~
I didn't realize how LARGE wild turkeys are until I got next to one in my yard...I think they are about the size of a HUGE Goose...and you do need to be careful. I had not heard of any attacks...most of the turkeys in this neighborhood hang out by the golf course!..(no pun intended) ...now beside sand traps and wild swings, maybe the golfers have a new obstacle, eh?
Julianna~
I will try to get some photos to show you. I LOVE this Sanctuary...the boardwalk winds through it and calls to so many of the neighbors. I seem to meet friends and birds there each time I go to the Sanctuary. Did you like the checklist?
Joan~
I agree...it IS great to live in/with nature. Last year we had three bear cubs on our back deck, at least a few bunny-couples, one very large mother bear,(not on our deck but looking down from a nearby tree) and the wild turkeys...I have not seen deer...so far...
Those wild turkeys are good eating, I'll tell you what!
Just kidding.
They are certainly interesting especially during mating season.
J.T. Narrin
hi janeAnne,
What a magnificent place to call home. I would be in heaven living in such a community and so close to this lake. We have wild turkeys here too....they're quite tame and are often seen crossing the roads or grazing in the fields alongside.
I think turkeys are quite beautiful...
Jo
Sally~
I love the mountains of NC, too...wild turkeys and all...and one of my favorite places is the Bird Sanctuary at Beaver Lake...what a quiet-place and the sound of birds fluttering and singing can do to energize this Sanctuary is awesome...
Joni~
I'm reading through the comments and realizing that I'm not the ONLY one with wild turkeys on her front lawn...and I thought I was so special ;(
JT~
Hey no eating the wild turkeys...they're almost pets...especially if you give them names..like I did with the bunnies...(I'm kidding, too)
Pat~
When I first moved to my little mountain home, the sight of wild turkeys had me flying...now I am getting quite brave with my camera...No more zoom lens...actually I got a few " up close and personal" shots...but they show mostly the behinds<-- Ho-Ho
Susan~
That's what I thought when I first moved to the mountains and met up with the gobblers..but now I think they are PRETTY!!! and so I am not so cautious as I once was....
Lynn~
It does sound as if you enjoy nature and the charms it offers...Be sure to keep us posted over at the ECO-All-Stars Group...want to know about your Beaver Lake.
Barbara Jo~
I hadn't thought of the "listening" aspect with the wild turkeys...but you have me excited about listing for them now...I'll let ya' know what I hear...gobble-gobble ??
Hi Jo~
The wild turkeys I caught with my camera the other day actually prefer the golf course over the-hill and through the woods) to our neighborhood..l.despite the golfers, and dangers associated with that sport for them...and like your turkeys, ours are quite tame...
Dena~
I didn't know that wild turkeys roam at night! I figured they roosted or something...