Backyard Nature: Two neighbors out for a stroll on Albemarle Street

Two of Barbara Lardy’s neighbors enjoy walking her block of Albemarle Street.

“Lovely couple,” she says.

Lardy, who is the president of Van Ness Main Street’s board as well as a neighbor, says she first encountered the wild turkeys a couple of weeks ago.

“I was returning from a walk (around 11 a.m.) and found them wandering around our fenced front yard; the gate was open so I’m sure they just strolled in. But when they spotted me, they flew up to the side fence and perched there until I walked up the path and into the house.

“I spotted them again in the afternoon around 4:00 just walking along Albemarle street (in the block between Linnean and 28th Street). I think they live in the gully to the west of the Italian residence. It’s pretty wild and undisturbed down there.”

The turkeys are also creatures of habit. Lardy saw them again on Tuesday, and on the same block. They were “just walking along the sidewalk and the road, stopping occasionally too nibble on grasses and other bushes.” That’s when she took these photos.

“At the closest, I wasn’t more than about 10 feet from them; I needed to pass them to get to the corner mailbox! They seemed unbothered by my presence, neither acting defensive or in attack mode.

“I think the best time to see them is late afternoon when they’re out for their evening stroll. They are quite majestic. I hope they stay around.”

The turkeys aren’t Lardy’s only wild neighbors. She wrote yesterday to add that she had “just spotted a HUGE fox walking in our yard. Looked big enough to have just eaten a turkey. Hope not.”